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Kaitlin Rettig

Ms. Mitchell

English comp 2

17 April 2016

The Poetry of T.S. Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot, better known by his pen name, T.S. Eliot, was (and still remains to

be) one of the most influential and quoted poets of all time. Whether it be through the more

popular works, such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, or his more obscure works, Eliot

always finds a way to express things you didnt even know you felt. His poetry is considered so

influential for many reasons, the most important of them being his participation in the modernist

movement, his particular style of writing, and the impact his works have had on the world.

The term modernism refers to a movement that arose in the late 1800s, rising to

popularity after World War I, and remaining influential past World War II and into the late

1940s. While many poets can be said to have been influenced by modernism, Eliot is actually

credited with helping create the use of it in poetry, as the true birth of modernism in poetry is

often dated back to the publication of Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" in 1917. The

modernist poets attempted to describe the world they saw before them in poetry, rather than

transport their readers to a false world, and this is clear in Eliots poetry, but he does so while

still managing to make it sound magical and entrancing. Take, for example, the lines, "Let us go

then, you and I / When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherised upon a

table" ("Prufrock" 1-3). Prufrock actually amazed Ezra Pound, a poet three years Eliot's senior

who would eventually arranged to have him published, by its modernity, which Eliot had

achieved without any direct contact with avant-garde movements (Domestico and Lewis). While
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Eliot was no doubt one of the most influential modern poets, he was almost one of the most

influential critical voices of the movement, stating that, in modern civilization, "the poet must

become more and more comprehensive, more allusive, more indirect, in order to force, to

dislocate if necessary, language to his meaning, which he demonstrates in his own writing.

Eliots particular style of writing in his poetry is something unseen in other poets. His

sentences tend to be long and oblique, extending a metaphor or a philosophical reflection over

the course of a verse or even more (Gonzalez). He creates a clear vision of exactly what he

wants you to see. A good example of Eliots use of long and descriptive sentences would from

his poem, Burnt Norton:

There they were, dignified, invisible,

Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,

In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,

And the bird called, in response to

The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,

And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses

Had the look of flowers that are looked at; (24-30)

The poem's title refers to a manor house Eliot once visited; the manor's garden served as an

important image within the poem, which was shown in the lines shared above. Eliot also displays

a high level of education and a very extensive vocabulary, and makes no attempt to water it

down in order to reach wider audiences, which often makes it difficult for students to analyze.

Hes particularly fond of using quotes from different languages in his works. Take, for example,

the bits of german scattered around Eliots The Waste Land:

Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee

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With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,

And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,

And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.

Bin gar keine Russin, stamm aus Litauen, echt deutsch; (8-12)

Another example of his fondness for foreign languages can be taken from epigraph of

Prufrock:

Sio credesse che mia risposta fosse

A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,

Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.

Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo

Non torno vivo alcun, siodo il vero,

Senza tema dinfamia ti rispondo. (Epigraph)

The epigraph is taken from the original Italian version of Dantes Inferno. In addition to the

lengthy descriptions and different languages incorporated into Eliots work are many, many

metaphors. Hes particularly famous for the extended metaphor used in the third stanza of

Prufrock:

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,

The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes

Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,

Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,

Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,

Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,

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And seeing that it was a soft October night,

Curled once about the house, and fell asleep; (15-22)

Eliots metaphors are also used to cement the main idea of the poem into the readers mind.

Because of this, Eliot oftentimes places his metaphors at the end of his poems. An example of

this would be the conclusion of Prufrock: We have lingered in the chambers of the sea / By

sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown / Till human voices wake us, and we drown

(129-131). All of these individual pieces of Eliots writing style add up to what makes him such

an influential poet.

Saying that the influence of Eliots work is vast would be an understatement. He has

definitely left his mark on the world; so much so that in 1948, he won the Nobel Prize in

literature for his contributions. He not only strongly influenced the modernist movement with his

writings, but he also had a strong hand in influencing the school of New Criticism due to his

extensive experience as a critical voice during the 20th century. He serves as an influence to not

only writers of his time, but future generations of writers as well. Northrop Frye, an extremely

respected literary critic, states that, "A thorough knowledge of Eliot is compulsory for anyone

interested in contemporary literature. Whether he is liked or disliked is of no importance, but he

must be read."

T.S. Eliots work set the standard for poets of not only his time, but for future generations

of writers as well. Whether it be through his experiences with the modernist movement, his

powerful critical voice, or just his overall contributions to the world, he will always be

remembered as one of the greatest literary voices of all time. The magnitude of his impact on the

world of poetry is unrivaled. His work (literally) speaks for itself!

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Works Cited

Domestico, Anthony and Lewis, Pericles. T.S. Eliot. The Modernism Lab, Yale University,

n.d.

Web. 19 April 2016.

Eliot, T S. Burnt Norton. London: Faber and Faber, 1941. Print.

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Eliot, T.S. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and

Drama. Ed. Robert DiYani. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 1102-1105. Print.

Eliot, T. S.The Waste Land. The Waste Land. Ed. North, Michael. New York: W. W.

Norton & Company, Inc., 2001. Print.

Gonzalez, Alexander. Analysis of Eliots Style. Alexander Gonzalez on T.S. Eliot, n.d. Web.

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