T.S. Eliot: WTF?

[CharleyH]

Ok, so I have not /come came here in a while. DIRTY MINDS!

Unusually, there is a thread in the AH about T.S. Eliot, about poetry, my god. Still, I do have questions about J. Alfred, but no one is bantering over there, so any interested parties ...

T.S. Eliot

Like why is he so revered? What makes a poet GREAT? And was he a woman?

 

[CharleyH]

So you can all pick apart your own, or eachothers, but no one wants to pick on Eliot? He's THAT good?

 

[Angeline]

So you can all pick apart your own, or eachothers, but no one wants to pick on Eliot? He's THAT good?

I can and will but I'm too tired now. Prufrock is a masterpiece and it's both the theme and the incredible stream-of-consciousness flow of the form. And Prufrock is such a schitzophrenic character. And it's all tied up in references to Shakespeare.

Oh, I got opinions...but um I have to get up really early and work.

I'll be back tomorrow though.

 

[Guest]

This is the Doldrums of the day - the night crew'll be in soon. They marmelize old T.S.

 

[eagleyez]

Ok, so I have not /come came here in a while. DIRTY MINDS!

Unusually, there is a thread in the AH about T.S. Eliot, about poetry, my god. Still, I do have questions about J. Alfred, but no one is bantering over there, so any interested parties ...

T.S. Eliot

Like why is he so revered? What makes a poet GREAT? And was he a woman?

I prefer Eliot's critical writing and historical renderings over his Poems. His sense of shifts, and tilts, is constant in his commentary. His writings re: Shakespeare and the subsequent post Elizabethen, Industrial England, and its place in the literary tradition, were interesting.

He is most well known for Wasteland and such, but I dug up some of his criticism (university libraries are so wonderful), and its worth mentioning.

He wore a suit, worked in a bank.

 

[eagleyez]

This is the Doldrums of the day - the night crew'll be in soon. They marmelize old T.S.

LOL,

*car crash*

 

[eagleyez]

I can and will but I'm too tired now. Prufrock is a masterpiece and it's both the theme and the incredible stream-of-consciousness flow of the form. And Prufrock is such a schitzophrenic character. And it's all tied up in references to Shakespeare.

Oh, I got opinions...but um I have to get up really early and work.

I'll be back tomorrow though.

Last music, in sitting rooms,
the front ones
with china parchment
and child fish,
sleep
and let me
rub your
belly.

 

[Angeline]

Last music, in sitting rooms,
the front ones
with china parchment
and child fish,
sleep
and let me
rub your
belly.

if you rub my belly in the writing studio, I'll give you a coupon for pasta fazool.

 

[ozymandiask]

I prefer Eliot's critical writing and historical renderings over his Poems. His sense of shifts, and tilts, is constant in his commentary. His writings re: Shakespeare and the subsequent post Elizabethen, Industrial England, and its place in the literary tradition, were interesting.

He is most well known for Wasteland and such, but I dug up some of his criticism (university libraries are so wonderful), and its worth mentioning.

He wore a suit, worked in a bank.

He is revered, I think for his intellect as much as his poetry. To really appreciate him you need a good knowledge of English literature and history. He definitely is a favourite of the academics rather than a general readership. You cannot love Eliot like you can Yeats for example. You can be forgiven too if you think Eliot is amazingly clever and meaningful but also pretty tedious sometimes.

I do however think his analysis of other writers and poets is brilliant. His introduction to Kiplings Verse published 1940 or 41 I think is an exceptional essay of a writer that he does not seem to have liked overmuch. This essay of about 40 pages is a stunningly economic lesson in how to read and appreciate a poet.

Maybe he did work in a bank but a poet laureate can be a career insurance man!

 

[eagleyez]

He is revered, I think for his intellect as much as his poetry. To really appreciate him you need a good knowledge of English literature and history. He definitely is a favourite of the academics rather than a general readership. You cannot love Eliot like you can Yeats for example. You can be forgiven too if you think Eliot is amazingly clever and meaningful but also pretty tedious sometimes.

I do however think his analysis of other writers and poets is brilliant. His introduction to Kiplings Verse published 1940 or 41 I think is an exceptional essay of a writer that he does not seem to have liked overmuch. This essay of about 40 pages is a stunningly economic lesson in how to read and appreciate a poet.

Maybe he did work in a bank but a poet laureate can be a career insurance man!

I understand completely the Yeats comparison. And, yes, you nailed it when you say Eliot is revered for the shear breadth of his scholarship and intellect. That is why I prefer his historical and critical writing, though, even that is thick and laborious to plow thru at times.

E. Pound convinced him to quit the bank gig, strange bedfellows those two.

 

[darkmaas]

Tesse wrote:

They marmelize old T.S.

I'm at a loss...

but I just know that I could learn to like a little marmalizing.

 

[flyguy69]

Tesse wrote:

I'm at a loss...

but I just know that I could learn to like a little marmalizing.

I'll bet she's good on toast.

 

[darkmaas]

I seriously doubt that there are enough sunny days on the left coast for a good toasting.

 

[flyguy69]

I seriously doubt that there are enough sunny days on the left coast for a good toasting.

http://www.carolinaconnoisseur.com/images/Renaissance/toast.jpg
Here's to Tess! May her av's be marmelized in museums and bedrooms everywhere!

 

[flyguy69]

if you rub my belly in the writing studio, I'll give you a coupon for pasta fazool.

It appears someone has been buffing ee's belly! You, however, are too ticklish.

 

[Guest]

Where's CharleyH to bring back the sanity?

 

[flyguy69]

Where's CharleyH to bring back the sanity?

Speaking of belly rubs....

 

[flyguy69]

Ok, so I have not /come came here in a while. DIRTY MINDS!

Unusually, there is a thread in the AH about T.S. Eliot, about poetry, my god. Still, I do have questions about J. Alfred, but no one is bantering over there, so any interested parties ...

T.S. Eliot

Like why is he so revered? What makes a poet GREAT? And was he a woman?

"I wasn't even bothering whether I understood what I was saying"

T. S. Eliot, re: The Wasteland​

I prefer Prufrock because I find the imagery more compelling, but that is little like saying I prefer orange marmelade to kumquat. They're both good on toast.

 

[twelveoone]

So you can all pick apart your own, or eachothers, but no one wants to pick on Eliot? He's THAT good?

It is now our unsparing obligation to disclaim the reactionary Eliot
-Cynthia Ozick, "T.S. Eliot at 101" The New Yorker (1989)
Harold Bloom, Lyndall Gordon, and others have been less than kind.

Yes, he is THAT good,
http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/perloff/21/21_eliot.pdf
Starting on page 12, is a rather lenghy discussion of "Prufrock" by Majorie Perloff.

I have nothing else to add, except, I find him to be a pretty funny guy, but then humour like poetry is a subjective evaulation, wtf.

 

[Angeline]

It appears someone has been buffing ee's belly! You, however, are too ticklish.

You think ee is buff? I'll tell him for you--I'm sure it'll make him happy, lol.

I am ticklish, but not too much.

 

[CharleyH]

"I wasn't even bothering whether I understood what I was saying"

T. S. Eliot, re: The Wasteland​

I prefer Prufrock because I find the imagery more compelling, but that is little like saying I prefer orange marmelade to kumquat. They're both good on toast.

I prefered that!

I do not think anyone answered - completely - why is TS better than an Oasis song? Is that NOT 21st century poetry? WHAT makes poetry great?

Personal opinion? I LOVE UP LEAR and CARROLL for the use of language, the comment and metaphor. What is so damn special about TS Eliot? IS she a he or He a she? Are you all joking me because of English class and our penchent for being told one is great?

 

[CharleyH]

Where's CharleyH to bring back the sanity?

Oh, my SEXY thang, I can't bring sanity to any conversation, but I can bring sex . Want it? :|

I posted seriously :|

PS. you can drop the H, now that we are personal

 

[Guest]

<vclip> What is so damn special about TS Eliot? IS she a he or He a she? </clip>

http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1948/eliot.gif

Male, by the looks of it but ya never know. Not my type, any way.

 

[CharleyH]

http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1948/eliot.gif

Male, by the looks of it but ya never know. Not my type, any way.

I am pretty SURE your AV is sexier. MUCH.

I did hear TS was a girl? :|

Yet, my love, is not an Oasis song as poignant as TS? Is there a 21st century poet, perhaps a 20th, that compares? Are we brainwashed in school .. To think one is better than another?

I have yet to hear scansion, metre or rhyme etc. ....

 

[Guest]

I am pretty SURE your AV is sexier. MUCH.

I did hear TS was a girl? :|

Yet, my love, is not an Oasis song as poignant as TS? Is there a 21st century poet, perhaps a 20th, that compares? Are we brainwashed in school .. To think one is better than another?

I have yet to hear scansion, metre or rhyme etc. ....

Thank you - I'm most relieved.

I believe he went by the names Thomas Stearns - poor boy.

I'm no more familiar with Oasis than I am with old T.S. - sorry. I'll offer lyrics from Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell or Paul Simon but whethe they compare to Elliot is hard to say.

If we are brainwashed in school it has nothing to do with poetry - in my case any way.

Thank you for the PM.