Selected Prose of T. S. Eliot

Eliot was an influential critic; his criticism illuminated both the work of his literary predecessors and his own poetic aims. He fervently believed that it is essential for poets to reunite the two strands of human experience--rationality and emotion--which had, he felt, been dissociated in English poetry since the time of Donne and other 17th-century poets. Essentially a conservative thinker, Eliot disliked eccentricity and rebellion--though, paradoxically, his own poetry represents a profound break from the past and has often been called obscure. Despite his rigidity and insistence on formalism, Eliot`s criticism--like his poetry--has been far-reaching in its effects on 20th-century art and thought. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.