Reading & understanding T.S. Eliot

  • Thread starter Thread starter louisak
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

louisak

Guest
The other day I started to read the poem “Ash Wednesday” by T. S. Eliot. The imagery is interesting but overall it is difficult to understand. I know that Ignatius Press has a book by Thomas Howard in which he analyzes Eliot’s Four Quartets. Has anyone encountered a book or article which analyzes the other poems from Eliot’s Christian period? I know that his poems are full of allusions to classical literature, quotations from other poets and so forth, so commentary would be helpful in understanding his works.

Thanks.
 
There is Eliot and His Age by Russell Kirk, author of the Conservative Mind and convert to Catholicism. I haven’t read it, but considering the author and publisher I’d assume it’s orthodox. 🙂
 
I love “Ash Wednesday.” When I was reading them in school, Eliot’s earlier poems always left me depressed. But “Ash Wednesday” is hopeful. Read it as a quasi-liturgy. It’s poetry. It doesn’t have to be analyzed.
 
StudentMI said:
There is Eliot and His Age by Russell Kirk, author of the Conservative Mind and convert to Catholicism. I haven’t read it, but considering the author and publisher I’d assume it’s orthodox. 🙂
Click to expand...
I knew of Russell Kirk but I didn’t know he had written a book on Eliot. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Arizona_Mike said:
Good short article: abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/03/21/2984135.htm
Click to expand...
That is a good article, I found it helpful in understanding where Eliot was coming from. I loved this passage:

“One of the reasons that Eliot’s poetry of his “Christian” period speaks as strongly to the contemporary world as his earlier nihilistic works - which seem more aligned to its values - is that he never imagines that religious belief, or the behaviour which that belief entails, makes life or the acceptance of oneself, with all its demons, easier. On the contrary, it is a more difficult journey.”

In a way, that reminds me of something C.S. Lewis (also a convert) once wrote:

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
 
JimG said:
It’s poetry. It doesn’t have to be analyzed.
Click to expand...
Good point, thanks for the reminder. For me, when reading Eliot it is a temptation to focus on the quotations from Dante (I love Dante) and try to chase down the various literary quotations and references. In the end, the poem has to be read and appreciated for its own sake, without analyzing the sources.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top