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T.S. Elliot
By | December 24, 2007
One of the most remembered and well read of all poets in history is T.S. Elliot. He was born in 1888 in Missouri and was educated at Harvard and graduated in Philosophy at Oxford. He then worked was a school master, a bank clerk and later as the editor of Faber & Faber of which he later became a director. During his stay in England he became an English citizen.
He has been hailed as one of the most daring and forward thinking poets of all time and his belief was that poetry should represent the difficulties and present a true picture of modern life. He had a strained relationship with his wife whom he had considered separating from and her avoided meetings with her and did not even meet her after she was confined to mental hospital while still wedded to him.
Elliot was never known for the volume of his poetry; he was known rather for its quality. He published one or a couple of poems every year in the form of pamphlets or in periodicals.
His most famous work is the Four Quartets for which he won the Nobel Prize. It consisted of four long poems which related to the four elements and still continue to be interpreted differently. His other famous works are The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock, The Waste Land and Ash Wednesday along with others.
Elliot’s work has been rubbished by many critics and it was also alleged that he quoted liberally from the works of others. He has also been known to have been anti-Semitist and many of his poems refer to Jews in a derogatory or impolite manner.
Like most famous and brilliant authors and poets, Thomas Elliot faced his share of criticism both for his work as well as his beliefs.
Topics: Famous Poets |
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