T. S. Eliot

225 Pages·2006·1.55 MB·English

by  Craig Raine

T. S . E
L I O T
LIVES AND LEGACIES
Larzer Ziff
MARK TWAIN
David S. Reynolds
WALT WHITMAN
Edwin S. Gaustad
ROGER WILLIAMS
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Gale E. Christianson
ISAAC NEWTON
Paul Addison
WINSTON CHURCHILL
G. Edward White
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, JR.
Craig Raine
T. S. ELIOT
T . S . E
L I O T
Craig Raine
2006
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 2006 by Craig Raine
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Raine, Craig.
T. S. Eliot / Craig Raine.
p. cm. — (Lives and legacies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-530993-5
ISBN-10: 0-19-530993-6
1. Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888–1965.
2. Poets, American—20th century—Biography.
3. Critics—United States—Biography.
I. Title.
II. Series.
PS3509.L43Z8173 2006
821'.912—dc22
2006009856
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Valerie Eliot
who brought great happiness to a great poet
with love
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
PREFACE xi
Introduction
ELIOT AND THE BURIED LIFE xix
One
THE FAILURE TO LIVE 1
Two
ELIOT AS CLASSICIST:
THE ENQUIRY INTO FEELINGS 41
Three
THE WASTE LAND 75
Four
FOUR QUARTETS 95
vii
Five
THE DRAMA 115
Six
THE CRITICISM 127
Appendix 1
ELIOT AND ANTI-SEMITISM 149
Appendix 2
TWO FREE TRANSLATIONS BY CRAIG RAINE
OF ‘LUNE DE MIEL’ AND
‘DANS LE RESTAURANT’ 179
Appendix 3
AN ELIOT CHRONOLOGY 182
NOTES 190
INDEX 197
viii CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
SEVERAL PEOPLE, all of them more intelligent and learned than
me, have read this short book and made shrewd suggestions,
which I have acted on. I am very grateful to Mark Griffith, Adam
Thirlwell, A. D. Nuttall, Julie Maxwell, Nina Raine, and my wife,
Ann Pasternak Slater.
ix