Eliot excelled not only as a poet, but also as a dramatist, critic, editor and publisher and tseliot. If george eliot s wikipedia entry has received an unusually high number of views this week, the responsibility lies with lena dunham, who tweeted a couple of days ago that the victorian novelist. In other letters she feels persecuted by eliots family, and even by eliot himself. Eliot biography thomas stearns eliot 18881965 was born in st. Eliot, including old possums book of practical cats, and the waste land and other poems, and more on. Ts eliot s love letters to scholar emily hale, the great poets muse and source of supernatural ecstasy for more than 30 years, were released on thursday amid fevered speculation and. Sometime during the early days of september, 1919, t. His family allowed him the widest education available in his time, with no influence from his father to be practical and to go into business. This branch is based in boston but originated in east coker, yeovil, somerset. It suits such a play of innuendo as when the timorous prufrock of eliot s. An essayist, poet, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic by profession, eliot. Thomas stearns eliot om 26 september 1888 4 january 1965 was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. All chicago e books are on sale at 30% off with the code ebook30.
Eliots childhood infatuation with literature can be ascribed to several factors. Upon leaving oxford after one year, eliot took a teaching job at highgate school, and the following year became a foreign accounts manager at lloyds bank in london. The imperfect life of ts eliot the revised edition of lyndall gordons biography 2012 is a comprehensive account of eliot s life, dealing mainly with his life in england, and including five appendices plus a profusion of notes. Letters from t s eliot to the tandy family, with drafts of his cat poems so far in my experience there are cheifly sic 4 kinds of cat the old gumbie cat the practical cat the porpentine cat and the big bravo cat sic. S eliot and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. A short biography, john worthen is published by haus publishing. One of the most distinguished literary figures of the 20th cent.
Eliot, became chairman of the board of a brick company and served the schools and charities his father had helped found, as well as others. Eliot on love, life, exploration, success, marriage, wisdom and other things. Alfred prufrock, a work begun in his days at harvard. Though history remembers him as a poet, eliot always held a fulltime job, saying that he did not think writing poetry was a way to earn a living. The eliot family motto is tace et fac, be silent and act, or, with some licence, keep separate the man who suffers from the artist who creates. Eliot 18881965, americanbritish poet and literary critic, author of prufrock and other observations 1917 won numerous awards and honours in his lifetime, including the nobel prize for literature in 1948. A whimsical collection of 14 poems about cats written for children, the book shows a lighter side of eliot s poetry. This is an extract from the american edition of t s eliot s old possums book of practical cats, published in 1939. Family reunion, old possums book of practical cats, and the cocktail party. His verse play the family reunion had appeared in march and the idea of a christian society was due in three weeks. The eliot family is the american branch of one of several british families to hold this surname. The return of harry from abroad, where his wife has died in mysterious circumstances, is the occasion of the scene. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family.
Louis, missouri, to establish a unitarian christian church there. It is a subtle meditation on the nature of time and its relation to eternity. Thomas stearns eliot om 26 september 1888 4 january 1965 was a poet, essayist. We learn how much he has changed and how unchanged is wishwood, his family home, which is upkept in an almost havishamlike manner by harrys mother amy. T s eliot biography and list of works t s eliot books. By 1917 eliot had already achieved great success with his first book of poems, prufrock and other observations, which included the love song of j. Eliot all rights reserved this play is fully protected under the laws of the united.
His father, henry ware eliot 18431919, was a successful businessman, president and treasurer of the hydraulicpress brick company in st louis. And eliot was no figurehead at the publishing house. It must also be acknowledged, as chinmoy guha showed in his book where the dreams cross. Ezra pound encouraged eliot s writing, along with other upandcoming authors such as james joyce and robert frost eliot was awarded the nobel prize for literature in. Penelope lively, the purple swamp hen and other stories 1 likes. The academy of american poets is the largest membershipbased nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. Eliot s masterpiece is four quartets, which was issued as a book in 1943, though each quartet is a complete poem. I suspect that yours is a bravo cat by the looks of things. His early and experimental poetical works depict a bleak and barren soullessness, often in spare yet finely crafted modern verse. True, we can read the poetry and get a great deal from it, but our appreciation of, say, the waste land or the love song of j. Eliot, was an americanenglish poet, playwright, literary critic, and editor. Publisher, playwright, prose writer, social critic and poet, t.
Jeremy irons sounds the ominous lines this is the dead land in the velvet of the trained english voice. Never mind mermaids, and lilacs in bloom, and all that stuff. The acclaimed poet of the waste land, four quartets, and old possums book of practical cats, among numerous other poems, prose, and works of drama, won the nobel prize for literature in 1948. Eliot is the author of the waste land, which is now considered by many to be the most influential poetic work of the twentieth century. Archived document, may contain errors the politics of t. The chicago distribution center has reopened and is fulfilling orders. Louis and then the milton academy in massachusetts, as his family. Old possums book of practical cats inscribed by the author by t. Its no wonder, then, that the writer has more than a few inspiring insights to offer, both gleaned from his poems and from his nonfiction writing. The family reunion is one of my favourite plays of eliot. Eliot has 389 books on goodreads with 486002 ratings.
Possum was also the nickname that ezra pound gave eliot early in their friendship. Eliot was descended from a distinguished new england family that had relocated to st. Eliot play in verse, here with an introduction and notes by nevill coghill. Eliot is not the sort of poet you can understand in isolation. He became a british subject in 1927 at the age of 39, subsequently renouncing his american citizenship. Eliot s most popular book is the waste land and other poems. The critical edition gathers for the first time in one place the collected, uncollected, and unpublished prose of one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century. Eliot struggle words strange like moving between the legs of tables and of chairs, rising or falling, grasping at kisses and toys, advancing boldly, sudden to take alarm, retreating to the corner of arm and knee, eager to be reassured, taking pleasure in the fragrant brilliance of the christmas tree. Eliot s reputation was bolstered by the admiration and aid of esteemed contemporary poet ezra pound, the other tower of modernist poetry. T s eliot shares his observations in a letter to doris polly tandy, 4 november 1934. Thomas stearns eliot, 18881965, americanbritish poet and critic, b. Eliot harcourt, brace and company, new york copyright, 1939, by t. T s eliot books biography and list of works author of.
Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about his life. Eliot family america for the british noble family of st germans, cornwall, see earl of st germans. Eliots paternal grandfather, william greenleaf eliot, had moved to st. Eliot just thirty years old and working as a clerk in the foreignexchange division of lloyds bank in londonsat down and wrote his. A man might, hypothetically, compose any number of fine passages or even of whole poems which would each give satisfaction, and yet not be a great poet. Louis, missouri, and became a british subject in 1927. Some thirteen years later, he seemed to modify his view. The result of a multiyear collaboration among eliot s estate, faber and faber ltd. Faber colleague frank morley remembered that eliot had a theory you were not likely to lose money on the books you didnt publish. It is however a fascinating insight into the mind and art of eliot, his many masks and his difficulties with. The progress of the artist, eliot wrote in 1919, is a continual selfsacrifice, a continual extinction of personality. Old possums book of practical cats by t s eliot the.
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