Literature /Writer's Datebook: September 26
Brief biography and works of T.S. Eliot, American-born British poet, critic and playwright, 1948 Nobel laureate for literature.
T.S. Eliot was one of the most important figures in 20th century literature. Famous for his poem The Waste Land, he revolutionized the way poetry was written. Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948.
Early Years of T.S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1964) was born in St. Louis, Missouri the youngest of seven children, raised as a Unitarian. He studied at Harvard University where he was recognized as a brilliant student and where he began work on his poem "the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," one of his best-known works. After graduating, he continued his dtudies in Germany, France and at Oxford university.
Move to England and Literary Life
At the age of 27, Eliot moved to England for good. He worked in a bank at the same time began editing literary magazines. He quickly became a member of London's literary scene – after the publication of his first poetry collection, Prufrock, and Other Observations, he was introduced by Bertrand Russell to the members of the Bloomsbury Group. His next two small volumes, Ara vos prec and the more important The Waste Land, were published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at their Hogarth Press. Later, he joined the publishing company Faber and Faber, where he worked for the rest of his life.
His Works
Eliot's most famous work, The Waste Land, was written when he was 34. It is a long poem that caught the mood of despair and confusion felt by many people during the years between the two World Wars when everything seemed to be changing and uncertain. The poem is a mix of references to modern life and great literature of the past, written in a style that combines slang but with scholarly language. It remains one of the great works of 20th-century literature although it is very difficult to understand.
He wrote literary criticism essays The Sacred Wood, Homage to Dryden and Elizabethan Essays, among others. His plays were religious in nature as he adhered to the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Church of England.
T.S. Eliot died on January 4, 1964, at the age of 76.
Books by T.S. Eliot:
Prufrock, and Other Observations (1917, poetry)
Three Critical Essays (1920, essays)
Ara vos Prec (1920, poetry)
The Sacred Wood (1920, essays)
The Waste Land (1922, poetry)
Homage to Dryden (1924, essays)
Poems, 1909-1925 (1925, poetry)
For Lancelot Andrewes (1928, essays)
Ash Wednesday (1930, poetry)
Thoughts After Lambeth (1931, essays)
The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (1933, essays)
After Strange Gods (1933, essays)
Elizabethan Essays (1934, essays)
The Rock
(1934, religious play)
Murder in the Cathedral (1935, play)
Collected Poems: 1909-1935 (1936, poetry)
Essays Ancient and Modern (1936, essays)
The Dry Salvages (1941, poetry)
Four Quartets (1944, considered one of the greatest philosophical poems in the
language.
On Poetry and Poets (1957, essays)
Family Reunion (1930, play)
The Cocktail Party (1950, play)
Image Credit:
T.S. Eliot. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain.
Resources:
Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers, 2002
Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse, 1994
(c) September 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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