Yeah, count me in as another Eliot fan. He can be damned obtuse at times, but what he accomplished with the English language was phenomonal. It’s kind of like an onion, layer upon layer.
Of course, most of it just sails over my head, but I can live with that.
Yeah, me too–I agree that Eliot is great on growing old (someone else already quoted the “I shall wear my trousers rolled” lines) and on death. From Prufrock:
“And I have seen the eternal footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.”
He can be very funny about growing old, and he catches absurdity well, but he is a poet for adults, not lighthearted. I couldn’t imagine reading Eliot to my kids–I wouldn’t stop them from reading him themselves, but he’s not a mother’s milk kinda writer.
And waterj2: I really like that there are things I know I’m not getting–it will be a sad day when I can’t find anything new in there. I’m gonna link to this other thread where RTFirefly edjucated me about the “all manner of thing will be well” lines I quoted above and how Eliot swiped them from Julian of Norwich. Learning that was really neat.
Does everyone here know that you can download Eliot himself reading Prufrock? I believe the link I used was this one.
THANK YOU for posting that link, KarlGauss.