The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

“In Eliot the very images and the sound of the words—even when we do not know precisely why he has chosen them—are charged with a strange poignancy . . . . And sometimes we feel that he is speaking not only for a personal distress, but for the starvation of a whole civilization.”  

Edmund Wilson

This is how Edmund Wilson describes T.S.Eliot’s The Waste Land, one of the most significant poems of the 20th century. The LitSalon has recently studied the Divine Comedy, a poem of psychological depth and crystalline order. Dante was one of T. S. Eliot’s poetic heroes, and Eliot’s poems also contain philosophical and psychological complexity, but crystalline order? No: rather a kaleidoscope of imagery and allusions, a tapestry of mythology, history, and literature, that speaks to a broken modern world.

Yes – Eliot’s poetry is difficult, but that is what makes him an excellent author for a LitSalon study. His poems contain vivid images and memorable language; they challenge us to wrestle with questions that still matter today. 

JOINING DETAILS:

• Five meeting study (on Zoom) led by Sean Forester
• Sundays, 4.00-6.00 pm (UK), 3, 10, 17, 24 November & 1 December
• £150 for five meetings, including opening notes and resources
• Participants are welcome to use any edition of the poem as long as it has line numbers for reference.