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Loading... On Poetry and Poets (original 1957; edition 1985)by T. S. Eliot
Work InformationOn Poetry and Poets by T. S. Eliot (1957)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Thoughtful essays on a wide variety of topics written in a lucid elegant prose which is a joy to read. Eliot's has an unwavering belief that poetry shapes and vitalizes the language and, indeed, the culture, but there is a wistful sense that he knows that poetry does not, in fact, fulfill this function. These essays, many of which were originally delivered as addresses, are more easy-going than some of the better known earlier efforts; the opinions are tempered and less given to ex cathedra pronouncements. His tone is more fatherly than paternalistic. He is especially good in discussing why minor poetry matters, but I found his discussion of the social function of poetry, the proper role of poetry criticism, and Great Poets (in the context of Goethe) less satisfactory. There are excellent essays on Milton, Johnson, Byron, Yeats, and perhaps surprisingly, on Kipling. no reviews | add a review
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The Nobel Prize-winning poet's literary essays and lectures on Virgil, Sir John Davies, Milton, Johnson, Byron, Goethe, Kipling, Yeats, and the art of poetry. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)808.1Literature By Topic Rhetoric and anthologies Rhetoric of poetryLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Eliot's remarks on Vergil's almost chance prominence in Christian poetry, especially the Fourth Eclogue which happened to mention the Virgin, and a child to be born to eternal life. Eliot may also remark on Vergil's prosody, his alliterative hexameters, but I do not now recall half a century later.
In "On Poetry and Poets," Eliot says a mjor purpose for contemporary poets is to meld in colloquial language without diminishing commonplace activities and thought. I paraphrase, which my mentor L Unger never did. At any rate, Eliot might have been more tolerant than I for the colloquialisms of Rap, though I suspect he too would have considered it what Chaucer's Host asseses Chaucer's own terrible tale to be, "Rime doggerel." ( )