1. 1888-1965

2. Born in St. Louis, MissouriBorn in St. Louis, Missouri Educated at HarvardEducated at Harvard Influenced by French SymbolistsInfluenced by French Symbolists At Sorbonne, followed lectures by H. BergsonAt Sorbonne, followed lectures by H. Bergson Went to Oxford U. (thesis on Bradley)Went to Oxford U. (thesis on Bradley) Settled in England during WWISettled in England during WWI The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 1915 + early POEMS deals with the VACUITY of MODERN UPPER-CLASS LIFEVACUITY of MODERN UPPER-CLASS LIFE DIFFICULTY of COMMUNICATINGDIFFICULTY of COMMUNICATING They owe much to French Symbolists

3. 1922 founded Criterion Published THE WASTE LAND Director of Faber&Faber His way out of nihilism was religion; he became Anglican in 1927, same year got British citizenship The Hollow Men (25) The Journey of the Magi (27) illustrate his search for religious truth

4. Attempted to revive verse drama Murder in the Cathedral (35) The Family Reunion (39) The Cocktail Party, The Confidential Clerk were popular; they combined religious/philosophical themes with simple conversations The Four Quartets (36-42) poems expressing fundamental Christian beliefs. They conclude the spiritual quest for faith that The Waste Land had begun Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1947

6. 433 lines long Divided into five parts The Burial of the DeadThe Burial of the Dead A Game of ChessA Game of Chess The Fire SermonThe Fire Sermon Death by WaterDeath by Water What the Thunder SaidWhat the Thunder Said The title refers to the MYTH connected to fertility rites analysed by Sir J. Frazer in The Golden Bough

7. PAST+PRESENT interrelate + have a simultaneous existence, just as they do in the mind Time shifts are linked by FREE ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS+FLIGHTS OF THOUGHT in the mind of the narrator It was interpreted as a comment on the futility of civilization after WW1the futility of civilization after WW1 the emptiness and confusion of contemporary lifethe emptiness and confusion of contemporary life Later it was clear it also referred to personal “waste land”

8. The central metaphor is one of STERILITY, ARIDITY, IMPOTENCE E.’ s STYLE is characterized by metric experimentationmetric experimentation frequent use of everyday, even conversational languagefrequent use of everyday, even conversational language lack of standard punctuationlack of standard punctuation He often shifts from a style of lyric intensity to another of ironic or bitter realism omitting explanatory matter+links in the narrative chain His poetry is difficult. He himself considered it inevitable that art should be difficult in our time

9. Two kinds of difficulty Poems of the first – nihilistic – phase up to The Hollow Men, are difficult because of the ABSENCE of CONNECTIVE+TRANSITIONAL PASSAGES. He put disparate IMAGES and half disguised QUOTATIONS SIDE BY SIDE Poems of the second – Christian - phase are more traditional in their syntactical+image structure, but their PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND is quite complex + E. plays on the etymology of words

10. To the “waste land” E. opposes Western cultureWestern culture The Middle AgesThe Middle Ages The RenaissanceThe Renaissance The great rhetorical+philosophical schoolsThe great rhetorical+philosophical schools Non European culturesNon European cultures Christian religionChristian religion

11. E.’s sources Imagists: Pound+Hulme necessity for CLEAR+PRECISE LANGUAGE+IMAGESImagists: Pound+Hulme necessity for CLEAR+PRECISE LANGUAGE+IMAGES ECONOMY OF WORDS French Symbolists: FREE VERSEFrench Symbolists: FREE VERSE SORDIDNESS, UGLINESS of MODERN CITY LIFE Metaphysicals: WIT, HIGH RHETORIC, DARING IMAGES from different traditionsMetaphysicals: WIT, HIGH RHETORIC, DARING IMAGES from different traditions Dante: as expression of Medieval Christianity; complete range of emotions: from hell’s despair to heaven’s beatitudeDante: as expression of Medieval Christianity; complete range of emotions: from hell’s despair to heaven’s beatitude

12. OBJECTIVE CORRELATIVE ONLY WAY of EXPRESSING EMOTIONS in the form of art A SITUATION, A CHAIN OF EVENTS WHICH SHALL BE THE FORMULA FOR THAT PARTICULAR EMOTION