Part V T.S.Eliot 美国文学
T.S.-Eliot艾略特
T.S.Eliot
A poet, dramatist, literary critic, and modernist.
目录
Personal experience
A
B
His main works
Literary contributions
preludes
by:肖截文
• The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 杰· 阿尔弗雷德 · 普鲁弗洛克的情歌 1911 • Gerontion 小老头 1920 • The Waste Land 荒原 1922 • The Hollow Man 空心人 1925 • preludes 序曲
His main works
• Eliot was a highly refined sensibility. He was one of the first it not the first to sense the futility and fragmentization of modern life and see modern society as its most disgusting.
C
D
Writing style
E
F
Influence
《preludes》
Personal experience
• T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where his grandfather had helped to found the university of Washington.
【英美概况】【课堂笔记】美国文学american literature
AMERICAN LITERATUREWe shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all our exploringWill be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time.T.S. Eliot --- Little GiddingLiterature represents the language of a people, their culture and their tradition. But the reading of literature is more important to us than just a historical or cultural activity. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. When we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays, we may also grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.American literature is a literature that has recorded the stories of a search. Early explorers searched for new lands and new wealth. The puritans searched for a place that would become the ideal community, one of which God would approve. Many Americans travelled across America simply because they were restless and were searching for new experiences and opportunities. These searches can be said to be the “pursuit of happiness” and Americ an literature is the story of that pursuit.Some of the early literature was concerned with life in the cities and on the frontier. It created heroes and characters that epitomised the adventurous, the brave and the strong individual. This literature could be said to have created a history for a country which, in European eyes, had very little history!As the country expanded westwards, some authors questioned some of the beliefs and lifestyle of the established east coast communities. For instance, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a book called ‘Nature’ that questioned whether or not humans needed religion to reach a higher state of spirituality. Henry Thoreau wrote about how important it was for individuals to think for themselves, and claimed that an individua l’s conscience is more important than the demands of society. These ideas caused much controversy and discussion.Other writers of this time were writing about human imagination and emotion, rather than intellect. These novels asked the reader to understand the nature of guilt, pride and emotional repression, and to find meaning in his/her life.After the Civil War (1861-1865) many Americans became discontent with the growing materialism of society, and some writers wrote about the harsher reality which was facing some Americans in their daily lives. For instance, they wrote of poor working conditions, unsympathetic reactions by the community to someone who has committed ‘sin’, and of people findingthemselves trapped in their environment and struggling to find happiness.There were also writers like Emily Dickinson who wrote poems such as this:If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain;If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain,Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,I shall not live in vain.The first half of the 20th century saw the emergence of writersc alled “Imagists” whose poems focused on strong, concrete images. An example of this style was T.S.Eliot’s poem called the ‘The Waste Land’. This poem created images for the reader to interpret. Another such writer was E. E. Cumming, who threw away the rules of punctuation, spelling and even changed the way words were placed on the page.In the 1920’s in New York there emerged of a lively, powerful form of African-American music called jazz, and at the same time African-American writers began writing about the black community and their lives. Their writings used the rhythms drawn from their African and slavery. They told the American people not only about the injustices that society inflicted upon blacks, but also about the rich cultural life of the “the new negro” who was proud of his/her racial identity. Two African-American writers of this period were Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen.Mother To Son by Langston HughesWell, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So, boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps.'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now—For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.Post World War 2 authors started to write about American society in ways that questioned the direction in which society was going. After a short period of conservatism (1940’s and 1950’s), Americans saw a significant change in their culture and lifestyle. It was the period of African-American activism/protest, the feminist movement, the sexual revolution, the peace movement, and, it was a time when many alternative lifestyles were being experimented with. Politically, the world was in the midst of the Cold War between the USA with its political allies and the USSR and communism in general.People who immigrated to America were often said to be pursuing “The American Dream”. The term “The American Dream” represented an ideal. Simply stated, it meant that in America a person could achieve anything if he/she really wanted it enough. In recent history some people started doubting the possibility of this ideal: it seemed that the ideal could not be possible while society was the way that it was. Some people wanted to change society, and said that “The Dream” should be not be so much about economic success but more about personal fulfillment and the development of a just and caring society. People wanted to feel that they had a purpose in society, where they were needed, where they could fulfill their potential and where they could develop as an individual. It can be seen that some writers expressed a sense of hopelessness about achieving “The Dream” in their books and poetry.Richard Coryby Edwin Arlington RobinsonWhenever Richard Cory went downtown,We people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored, and imperially slim.And he was always quietly arrayed,And he was always human when he talked;But still he fluttered pulses when he said, “Good morning,” and he glittered when he walked. And he was rich -- yes, richer than a king,And admirably schooled in every grace:In fine, we thought that he was everythingTo make us wish that we were in his place.So on we worked, and waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread, And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,Went home and put a bullet through his head.Books, such as the following, also reflected this era:‘Catch 22’ (Joseph Heller) portrayed war as an absurd exercise for madmen. (1961)‘Death of a Salesman’ (Arthur Miller) is a play about the com mon man pressured by society. He tries to provide for his family but ultimately he fails to achieve what he thinks (and what society thinks) he should achieve. His unfulfilled dreams lead to a tragic ending.‘Native Son’ (Richard Wright) is a novel which has a black hero, whose character has been heavily impacted upon by a violent and cruel society. (1940)‘Catcher in the Rye’ (J.D.Salinger) is a book which portrays, through the eyes of a teenage boy, the hypocrisies of the adult world. The boy feels a sense of hopelessness about his world.Toni Morrison’s poems portrayed strong black women in society, and the struggles of growing up being black in America during the 1960’s and 1970’s.‘America’ (Allen Ginsberg) is a poem of anger and rage. It expresses the feelings of the Beat writers about the state of American culture in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Th e poem rages against the traditional American values of that time.‘The Kitchen God’s Wife’ by Amy Tan (1991) is a novel about her mother, who was born in China but who later, with her American husband, moved to America. The novel shows how the author sees her mother as a slight embarrassment, because of her traditional Chinese behaviour. Her mother tells her the story of her life in China. At the end of the story the young women comes to see her mother in an entirely different way. The love for her mother is still there, but her respect for her is now immense. Amy Tan was born in America and lives with her family.Extra PoemsWhat Fifty Said by Robert Frost (1925) When I was young my teachers were the old.I gave up fire for form till I was cold.I suffered like a metal being cast.I went to school to age to learn the past.Now when I am old my teachers are the young. What can't be molded must be cracked and sprung.I strain at lessons fit to start a suture.I got to school to youth to learn the future.Hey, that's no way to say goodbye by Leonard CohenI loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but now it's come to distances and both of us must try,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time, walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.So long, Marianne by Leonard CohenCome over to the window, my little darling,I'd like to try to read your palm.I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy before I let you take me home.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we beganto laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again.Well you know that I love to live with you,but you make me forget so very much.I forget to pray for the angelsand then the angels forget to pray for us.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...We met when we were almost youngdeep in the green lilac park.You held on to me like I was a crucifix,as we went kneeling through the dark.Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...Your letters they all say that you're beside me now. Then why do I feel alone?I'm standing on a ledge and your fine spider web is fastening my ankle to a stone.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...For now I need your hidden love.I'm cold as a new razor blade.You left when I told you I was curious,I never said that I was brave.Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...Oh, you are really such a pretty one.I see you've gone and changed your name again. And just when I climbed this whole mountainside, to wash my eyelids in the rain!Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...It Ain’t Me Babe by Bob DylanGo 'way from my window,Leave at your own chosen speed.I'm not the one you want, babe,I'm not the one you need.You say you're lookin' for someone Never weak but always strong,To protect you an' defend you Whether you are right or wrong, Someone to open each and every door, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.Go lightly from the ledge, babe,Go lightly on the ground.I'm not the one you want, babe,I will only let you down.You say you're looking' for someone Who will promise never to part, Someone to close his eyes for you, Someone to close his heart, Someone who will die for you an' more, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.Go melt back into the night, babe, Everything inside is made of stone. There's nothing in here movingAn' anyway I'm not alone.You say you're looking for someone Who'll pick you up each time you fall, To gather flowers constantlyAn' to come each time you call,A lover for your life an' nothing more, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.The Times They Are A-Changing by Bob Dylan Come gather 'round peopleWherever you roamAnd admit that the watersAround you have grownAnd accept it that soonYou'll be drenched to the bone.If your time to youIs worth savin'Then you better start swimmin'Or you'll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin'.Come writers and criticsWho prophesize with your penAnd keep your eyes wideThe chance won't come againAnd don't speak too soonFor the wheel's still in spinAnd there's no tellin' whoThat it's namin'.For the loser nowWill be later to winFor the times they are a-changin'.Come senators, congressmenPlease heed the callDon't stand in the doorwayDon't block up the hallFor he that gets hurtWill be he who has stalled There's a battle outsideAnd it is ragin'.It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the landAnd don't criticizeWhat you can't understandYour sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road isRapidly agin'.Please get out of the new oneIf you can't lend your handFor the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawnThe curse it is castThe slow one nowWill later be fastAs the present nowWill later be pastThe order isRapidly fadin'.And the first one nowWill later be lastFor the times they are a-changin'.Suzanne by Leonard CohenSuzanne takes you down to her place near the river You can hear the boats go byYou can spend the night beside herAnd you know that she's half crazyBut that's why you want to be thereAnd she feeds you tea and orangesThat come all the way fromChinaAnd just when you mean to tell herThat you have no love to give herThen she gets you on her wavelengthAnd she lets the river answerThat you've always been her loverAnd you want to travel with herAnd you want to travel blindAnd you know that she will trust youFor you've touched her perfect body with your mind.And Jesus was a sailorWhen he walked upon the waterAnd he spent a long time watchingFrom his lonely wooden towerAnd when he knew for certainOnly drowning men could see himHe said "All men will be sailors thenUntil the sea shall free them"But he himself was brokenLong before the sky would openForsaken, almost humanHe sank beneath your wisdom like a stoneAnd you want to travel with himAnd you want to travel blindAnd you think maybe you'll trust himFor he's touched your perfect body with his mind. Now Suzanne takes your handAnd she leads you to the riverShe is wearing rags and feathersFrom Salvation Army countersAnd the sun pours down like honeyOn our lady of the harbourAnd she shows you where to lookAmong the garbage and the flowersThere are heroes in the seaweedThere are children in the morningThey are leaning out for loveAnd they will lean that way foreverWhile Suzanne holds the mirrorAnd you want to travel with herAnd you want to travel blindAnd you know that you can trust herFor she's touched your perfect body with her mind.。
T.S_Eliot
Brief Introductiober 26, 1888 –
January 4, 1965)
• an American-born English poet, playwright, and literary critic. • the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. • the founder of Modern poem. • Nobel Prize Winner.
Early life
• born into a bourgeois family • the last of six surviving children • began to write poetry when he was 14
Education
• 1898 to 1905: a student at Smith Academy; studied Latin, Greek, French, and German. • 1905: Milton Academy for a preparatory year. studied history, Latin, physics. • 1906-1910: studied at Harvard and earned an A.B.; in 1910, earned a master's degree; studied classics, Medieval history, comparative literature and philosophy; met George Santayana, Barret Wendell, and Irving Babbitt; read Dante, Jules Laforgue, and metaphysical poets; received M. A. • 1910-1911: studying at the Sorbonne; got in touch with symbolism; touring European continent. • 1911-1914: a student in philosophy at Harvard; studied the writings of F. H. Bradley, Buddhism and Indic philology. • 1914: visited Marburg, Germany; studied philosophy; in October, studied in Merton College at Oxford.
T.S. Eliot艾略特 普鲁弗洛克的情歌
Major themes
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
4. Debasement and Hell
Prufrock sweeps the reader on a generally downward ride - from the skyline to street life, down stairs during a party, even to the sea floor. Prufrock consistently feels worse about himself in these situations. The epigraph taken from Dante's Inferno also implies that modern man inhabits a nightmarish inferno.
the title "love song"
clear insights into his sterile life
strong desire for love
hundred times of indecisions and revisions
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Major themes
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Prufrock's mind and voice are, better representatives of the fragmented Prufrock. ---His mind is all over the place, interrupted by self-interrogation and self -consciousness, looping back on itself, Prufrock's train of thought is deeply fragmented. His mind jumps in new directions and leave other thoughts cursorily examined or incomplete. ---The poem comes in the form of a dramatic monologue, a form that is usually fit for a resonant speaking voice. But "Prufrock" has a chorus of fragmented voices - the epigraph to Dante, the frequent allusions to the Bible, Shakespeare, and many poetic predecessors - which deny the existence of a solo voice. This, then, is Prufrock's voice: a fragmentation of voices past and present that somehow harmonize.
Part V(4)Twentieth-century Literature 美国文学课件
The Grapes of Wrath 1939 The Moon is Down 1942 a play Cannery Row 1945 The Pearl 1947 East of Eden, 1952 The Winter of Our Discontent 1961 Travels with Charley 1962 The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble
It helped in great measure toward iawareness of seriousness of its problems.
Structurally, it consists two blocks of material: westward trek of the Joads and the like, and general picture of the Great Depression.
self-supporting since childhood: laborer, seaman, newspaper reporter, bricklayer, chemist’s assistant, surveyor, migratory fruitpicker
1943, WW II war correspondent
Knights 1976
The Grapes of Wrath
Steinbeck traveled around California migrant camps in 1936.
The title originated from Julia Ward Howe's The Battle Hymn of the Republic (1861)
美国文学史及选读考研复习笔记5
History And Anthology of American Literature（5）PartⅤTwentieth-Century Literature二十世纪文学Ⅰ. Ezra Pound埃兹拉·庞德1885-19721.埃兹拉·卢米斯·庞德Ezra Loomis Pound。
他是一位非常具有个性的诗人，他能把传统与令人深刻和大胆的创新很熟练地结合起来he had a distinct poetic personality, he combined a command of the older tradition with impressive and often daring originality.他是一位多产的随笔作家，他不断地为纽约、伦敦、巴黎的小杂志撰稿，然后把这些作品汇集到一起，于是便组成了一个令人兴奋的文学大世界，他坚持无私地扶持那些刚入道，没什么影响，而他认为有前途的文学艺术家，最为重要的可能就是他给T·S·爱略特的帮助了he was a prolific essayist for the little magazines of New York, London, Paris, which then constituted a large and exciting literary world. He unselfishly and persistently championed the experimental and often unpopular artists. Most important of all, perhaps, was the advice and encouragement which he gave to T·S· Eliot.2.庞德和爱略特的作品都要求他们的读者熟悉古典作品，包括意大利和英国文艺复兴时期的作品，特别是欧洲大陆地区文学，包括法国象征主义，庞德保持了作品的艰深晦涩风格 both Pound and Eliot required of their readers a familiarity with the classics, the productions of Italian and English Renaissance,, and specialized areas of Continental literature, including the works of the French symbolists. Pound’s continued to draw fundamentally upon his formidably recondite culture.3.《向塞克斯图·普罗佩提多斯致敬》”Homage toSextus Propertius”; 《人物》（或《面具》）”Personae”or “Masks”;1920年《休·赛尔温·毛伯利》被看作是有关一战战争实质的讽刺类代表作”Hugh Selwyn Mauberley”, considered as a satire of the materialistic forces involved in World WarⅠ;1917年开始创作《诗集》，截止1959年总首数已达109首，有点象但丁的《神曲》，也是由三个部分组成，结构较为松散，作品中的主人公是喜剧性的人而不是神，他认为人类文明的毁灭主要是由于人类的三个时期，即上古时期、复兴时期和现代时期缺乏信用所至”The Cantos”, began in 1917, by 1959, the numbered 109 poems. The progressive series, exceeding the proposed limit of one hundred poems, are loosely connected cantos, like Dante’s“Divina Commedia”in three sections, butrepresenting a comedy human, not divine, dealingwith the wreck of civilizations by reason of theinfidelity of mankind in the three epochs-the ancientworld, the Renaissance, and the modern period.4.二战期间，庞德代表意大利政府，运用广播形式对美国军队进行强烈的谴责。
美国文学史Unit8马克吐温
His major works
He wrote 28 books and numerous short stories, letters and sketches.
It is the first novels which tried to
•Innocents Abroad (1869dfeisrscrtibbeotohke)neawcmoollreaclittyioonf poofstt-ravel
-- Ernest Hemingway
★ "I believe that Mark Twain had a clearer vision of life, that he came nearer to its elementals and was less deceived by its false appearances than any other American. I believe that he was the true father of our national literature.-- H.L. Mencken
letters
Civil War America
•The Gilded Age (1873) 《镀金时代》 •The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 《汤姆索亚历险记》(1876) • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 《哈克贝恩历险记》 (1885)
Mark Twain 马克-吐温
novel
T.S Eliot T.S艾略特
3
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist.
T.S.艾略特英文
There are five parts in the poem. “The Burial of the Dead” 《死者的葬礼》 “A Game of Chess” 《对弈》“The Fire Sermon”《火戒》”Death by Water ”《水里的死亡》and “What the Thunder Said”《雷霆的话》of the waste land ,the change is abrupt and jerky,ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱwith no hint of logical order and causal relationship.
3. Eliot piles up a heap of images, visual, auditory, olfactory, and more for the readers to figure out what is being said. Take an example of The winter Evening(P177)
的用途和批评的效果》 • After Strange Gods《陌生的神灵》
Theme
• The basic themes in his criticism concerned the relationship between tradition and individual talent, and between the past, the present, and the future • In the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, he developed a theme of frustration and emotional conflict
Influence on:
外国文学T·S·艾略特概述.
1915年初，在一个同学的介绍下， 艾略特认识了舞蹈家薇薇安· 海伍 德（Vivien Haigh-Wood），他 迅速的被迷住了，两人于当年的 六月结婚。艾略特的父母对此感 到震惊，当他们知道了薇薇安一 长串感情史及精神病史后更是深 深的困扰，这场婚姻使整个家庭 濒于破裂，但也无可置疑的开创 了艾略特的英国生活。
（Thomas Stearns Eliot）
T· S· 艾略特
一、概述
T· S· 艾略特（Thomas Stearns Eliot）（18881965）：英国著名现代派诗 人和文艺评论家。1908年开 始创作。有诗集《普鲁弗洛 克及其他》、《诗选》、 《四个四重奏》等。代表作 为长诗《荒原》，表达了西 方一代人精神上的幻灭，被 认为是西方现代文学中具有 划时代意义的作品。1948年 因“革新现代诗，功绩卓著 的先驱”，获诺贝尔奖文学
二、生平简介
艾略特1888年9月26日出生于 密苏里州的圣路易斯，他的家 境十分优越，父亲是公司总裁， 母亲原是教师，后成为一名志 愿者积极参与社会工作。艾略 特是家中最小的孩子，十六岁 之前，艾略特在圣路易斯的史 密斯学院学习。
1905年的秋天，艾略特进入哈佛 大学，受一些教授的影响，艾略 特开始关注起白璧德（Irving Babbitt）及桑塔亚纳（George Santayana），对他影响最深的 是西蒙斯（Arthur Symons）的 书《文学中的象征主义运动》。 艾略特最后获得了比较文学的学 士学位以及英国文学的硕士学位。
这个时期发表的诗作有《J.阿尔弗雷德· 普 鲁弗洛克的情歌》（1915）《一个哭泣的 姑娘》（1917）《小老头》（1920）《夜 莺声中的斯瓦尼》（1918）《在餐馆里》 （1920）等。这些作品力图表现现代西方 社会的空虚、丑陋和堕落，刻画现代人深 刻的精神危机。其中反响较大的是《普鲁 弗洛克的情歌》。
T.S._Eliot
• His poems in many respects articulated the disillusionment of a younger post-World-War-I generation with the values and conventions— both literary and social—of the Victorian era.
• As a critic also, he had an enormous impact on contemporary literary taste, propounding views that, after his conversion to orthodox Christianity in the late thirties, were increasingly based in social and religious conservatism.
• After a year in Paris ,he returned to Harvard to pursue a doctorate in philosophy, but returned to Europe and settled in England in 1915. • The following year, he married Vivienne Haigh-Wood and began working in London, first as a teacher, and later for Lloyd's Bank.
Style
• US - UK • His audience was elitists who took a view of society different from mass culture. He is very difficult to read with learned quotations from and allusions to classical literature, heavy symbolism, highly fresh imagery, and stream-of-consciousness technique.
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Influence: Louis Untermeyer, 1930
Our reaction to life in the trenches was far greater than our participation in it. Suffering less from shell-shock that postwar disillusion, many of the younger writers indulged themselves in prolonged literary nerves. T.S. Eliot (mistakenly) became their prophet, detachment and despair their contradictory gods.
Awards & Recognitions
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. the Order of Merit in January 1948. the Hanseatic Gothe Prize in 1954. the Dante Gold Medal in 1959. Won the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 Eliot was recognized as an Officier de la Legion d‘Honneur.
Reception: J.C. Squire
I read Mr. Eliot's poem several times when it first appeared; I have now read it several times more; I am still unable to make head or tail of it. ... Conceivably, what is attempted here is a faithful transcript, after Mr. Joyce's obscurer manner, of the poet's wandering thoughts when in a state of erudite depression. A grunt would serve equally well; what is language but communication, or art but selection and arrangement?
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
Late poetry and drama concerned with religious matters Later poems have much calmer poetic Important critic “Tradition and Individual Talent” Tries to re-establish wit and sensibility
Thomas Stearns Eliot
(1888 - 1965)
School of Foreign Studies, SCNU
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) The “Classical” Modernist
An American expatriate Extremely well read and educated Married all his life to a woman who went insane Imported mythology from all over the world into his poetry.
Reception: Louis Untermeyer
The poem is a ―formless plasma,‖ a ―mingling of wilful obscurity and weak vaudeville.‖ The pleasure one receives from reading this poem is the ―gratification attained through having solved a puzzle.‖
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
Felt poetry must become comprehensive Sought to revive poetry that had become dead Looked to 17th-century metaphysical poets Has close ties to Romanticism Really wants to revive classic aestheticInfluence: Fra bibliotekzra Pound
Last winter he broke down and was sent off for three months' rest. During that time he wrote 'Waste Land,' a series of poems, possible the finest that the modern movement in English has produced, at any rate as good as anything that has been done since 1900, and which certainly lose nothing by comparison with the best work of Keats, Browning or Shelley.
The Waste Land
Theme: modern spiritual barrenness, the despair and depression that followed the first world war, the sterility and turbulence of modern world, and the decline and break-down of Western culture. Characteristics: varied length and rhythm to harmonize with the changing subject matter, the unrhymed lines, lots of borrowings from some 35 different writers, the employment of materials such as the legends of the Holy Grail, Frazer‘s anthropological work The Golden Bough, several popular songs, and passages in six foreign languages, including Sanskrit. This poem, nevertheless, is broadly acknowledged as one of the most recognizable landmarks of Modernism.
Reception: Edmund Wilson
Wilson describes Eliot as ―one of our only authentic poets [who] hears in his own parched cry the voices of all the thirsty men of the past.‖ Eliot ―feels intensely, and with distinction and speaks naturally in beautiful verse.‖ However, ―in spite of its lack of structural unity [the poem is] simply one triumph after another.‖ It ―is intelligible at first reading.‖ Readers ―feel the force of the intense emotion‖ and are brought ―into the heart of the singer.‖
The Life of T. S. Eliot
Eliot was born in St. Louis and educated at Harvard University, but spend most of his adult life in London and became an English citizen. In the vanguard 先驱of the artistic movement known as Modernism, Eliot was a unique innovator in poetry and The Waste Land (1922) stands as one of the most original and influential poems of the twentieth century. 作为现代主义的先驱，T.S. Eliot 的诗歌 《荒原》被认为是20 世纪最有影响的诗歌。 In the 30‘s he changed his style of writing to serenity and religious humility. In his later years he started to become a playwright The Waste Land, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Ash-Wednesday, and Four Quartets.