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Thomas Stearns Eliot (better known by his short name T. S. Eliot) - American-English poet, playwright and literary critic, representative of modernism in poetry - was born September 26, 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri (USA) in a wealthy family.

His grandfather was a priest who built a church and founded a university college. His father was the president of an industrial company, his mother was interested in literary activities. From an early age he showed extraordinary abilities; at the age of 14, under the influence of the poetry of Omar Khayyam, he began to write poetry.

In 1906 After graduating from a private school, he entered Harvard University, where he graduated in three years instead of four. For another year he worked as an assistant at the university. He began publishing his poems in the Harvard Advocate magazine, where he began working as an editor. In 1910-1911 lived in Paris and attended lectures on philosophy and languages ​​at the Sorbonne. In particular, I listened to lectures by Henri Bergson and Alain-Fournier. In 1911 returned to the United States and studied Indian philosophy and Sanskrit for three years as a doctorate at Harvard.

Eliot began his literary career with Ezra Pound. Their views had much in common, and Eliot willingly published poems in Imagist anthologies. In 1914 he moved to Europe, first to Marburg in Germany, with the outbreak of World War I he went to England and lived most of his life in this country, working as a bank employee, a school teacher, and then as a literature professor. Eliot first settled in London, then moved to Oxford.

Being an avant-garde poet, he had a rebellious attitude towards the modern world. The central theme of his work was the crisis of the spirit. Eliot's development was noticeably influenced by the then popular ideas about man's loss of spiritual values ​​given to him by God and self-devastation as a consequence of the struggle for survival and the pursuit of material values.

In 1915 married ballerina Vivienne Haywood. It soon became clear that she was suffering from a mental disorder. Eliot was published since 1916 in the American literary magazine The Little Review, founded by Jane Heap and Margaret Anderson. The most significant poems of his early years were included in the book The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock ( 1917 ), perceived by contemporaries as a manifesto of Anglo-American modernism. In 1919 His collection “Poems” was published. In 1922 Eliot published his most significant work, the poem “The Waste Land,” which embodied the post-war sentiments of the “Lost Generation” and was rich in biblical and Dantean allusions.

Eliot was also a prominent critic. His articles were published in various periodicals. In 1920 A collection of his aesthetic works, “The Sacred Forest,” was published. Eliot reminded his contemporaries of the half-forgotten John Donne and other “metaphysical poets,” among whom he especially highly regarded Andrew Marvell and John Webster. Eliot generally rejected the poetry of classicism and romanticism as embodying a “dissociation of sensibility,” that is, a discrepancy between reason and feeling. Eliot sharply contrasted reason and feelings, believing that poetry should not address them directly.

Since 1925 and until his death he worked for the famous publishing house Faber and Faber (originally Faber and Gwyer) and became its director.

In 1927 Eliot converted to Anglicanism and became a British citizen. His thoughts about religion are reflected in the poem “Ash Wednesday” ( 1930 ), in a more traditional style than his earlier work.

Eliot also translated in 1930 based on the English poem “Anabasis” by the French poet Saint-John Perse.

In 1932 after a twenty-year break he visited America. In 1934 divorced his wife.

After Yeats's death and the publication of the poem "Four Quartets" ( 1943 ) Eliot has firmly established his reputation as the greatest living poet in the English language.

Eliot, like his friend and literary mentor Ezra Pound, was accused of anti-Semitism, but, unlike Pound, he always denied this.

Eliot was an elitist poet, his poetry is completely different from the works of his contemporary authors. At the same time, the inherent complexity of his work was not Eliot's goal; it was rather a consequence of the non-standard and variety of poetic problems that he posed and solved.

In 1948 Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his pioneering innovation in the development of modern poetry." In 1948 awarded the British Order of Merit, in 1954- the French Legion of Honor and the German Goethe Prize of the Hanseatic League.

Since 1952 until his death he was president of the London Library.

In 1957 At the age of 68 he married his former secretary Valerie Fletcher.

Thomas Stearns Eliot died January 4, 1965 in London at the age of 76 and buried in Westminster Abbey.

(1888 - 1965)

The Anglo-American poet Thomas Stearns Eliot, who greatly influenced the development of English-language poetry in the 20th century, was born on September 26, 1888 in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) and grew up in a wealthy family whose ancestors came from England.

After graduating from private school, Thomas Eliot entered Harvard University in 1906. He began writing his first poems under the influence of Omar Khayyam at the age of 14. Fascinated by the poetry of the Symbolists, he came to Paris, where he continued his studies at the Sorbonne.

Returning to America in 1911, he began work on a dissertation on Bradley’s work, without finishing it he moved first to Germany, and then in 1915 to London.

Here in 1915, Thomas Eliot married Vivien Heywood, with whom the marriage was unsuccessful.

From 1917 to 1919, Eliot worked as deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine "Egoist" and published his own poems in various periodicals, and also published several collections of poetry. Thomas Eliot's first major poem was The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. This was a new milestone in the poetry of the 20th century, a round of modern English poetry.

Thomas Eliot becomes a popular poet, a serious literary critic who considers it his task to “bring the poet back to life.” His critical essays begin the so-called “Cambridge school of criticism.”

In 1922, according to critics, Eliot’s best work was published, which reflected the intellectual mood of an entire era - the poem “The Waste Land.”

1927 Thomas Eliot converted to the Anglican faith and became a British subject. In his poem “Ash Wednesday” (1930), he expressed his heartfelt anguish regarding the departure from family religious traditions in society.

In 1934, Eliot wrote the poetic drama “The Stone,” and in 1935, the drama “Murder in the Cathedral,” staged at the same time in Canterbury Cathedral. This was his vivid stage work, written in the form of a church liturgical action, medieval morality and ancient tragedy. His plays from modern life - "A Family Reunion" (1939), "The Cocktail Party" (1950) and others - are considered less successful.

1940 Thomas Eliot writes the poem “East Cocker”, then his poetic works are published in a row, which are considered the most mature, where Eliot recreated his own idea of ​​​​the poet’s high mission - to preserve, increase and pass on to a new generation the heritage of national and world culture embodied in words.

1948 Thomas Eliot is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his outstanding and innovative contribution to modern poetry."

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Thomas was awarded the British Order of Merit (1948), the French Legion of Honor (1954), the Goethe Prize (1954) and many other awards. He received many honorary degrees and was an honorary member of the boards of many educational institutions.

1957 Thomas Eliot remarries.

Thomas Stearns Eliot died on January 4, 1965 at the age of 76 and was buried in the village of East Coker, from where in the 17th century. his famous ancestors moved to America.

Thomas Eliot short biography

American-English poet, playwright and literary critic, representative of modernism in poetry.

Was born September 26 1888 in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) in a wealthy family whose ancestors came from England.

After graduating from private school, Thomas Eliot entered Harvard University in 1906. He began writing his first poems under the influence of Omar Khayyam at the age of 14. Fascinated by the poetry of the Symbolists, he came to Paris, where he continued his studies at the Sorbonne.

Returning to America in 1911, he began work on a dissertation on Bradley’s work, without finishing it he moved first to Germany, and then in 1915 to London.

In 1915 he married ballerina Vivienne Haywood, but it soon became clear that she was suffering from a mental disorder.

From 1917 to 1919 Mr. Eliot works as deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine "Egoist" and publishes his own poems in various periodicals, and also publishes several poetry collections. Thomas Eliot's first major poem was The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. This was a new milestone in the poetry of the 20th century, a round of modern English poetry.

Thomas Eliot becomes a popular poet and a serious literary critic. His critical essays begin the so-called “Cambridge school of criticism.”

In 1922, according to critics, Eliot's best work was published, which reflected the intellectual mood of an entire era - the poem "The Waste Land."

In 1927 Eliot converted to Anglicanism and became a British citizen. His thoughts on religion were reflected in the poem Ash Wednesday (1930), which was in a more traditional style than his earlier works.

In 1932 after a twenty-year break he visited America. IN 1934divorced his wife.

In 1934, Eliot wrote the poetic drama “The Stone,” and in 1935, the drama “Murder in the Cathedral,” staged at the same time in Canterbury Cathedral. His plays about modern life - A Family Reunion (1939), The Cocktail Party (1950) and others - are considered less successful.

1940 Thomas Eliot writes the poem “East Cocker”, then his poetic works, which are considered the most mature, are published in a row.

In 1948, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his pioneering innovation in the development of modern poetry." In 1948 he was awarded the British Order of Merit, in 1954 - the French Legion of Honor and the German Goethe Prize of the Hanseatic League.

From 1952 until his death he was president of the London Library.

In 1957, at the age of 68, he married his former secretary Valerie Fletcher.

Died January 4, 1965 in London at the age of 76 and buried in Westminster Abbey.

American poet, playwright and critic; British subject since 1927. Recognized as one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

Born September 26, 1888 in St. Louis (Missouri). The father was the president of an industrial company; mother actively participated in the movement for social reform. Since 1906 – student at Harvard University; Having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1909 and spending another year studying philosophy, he entered the Sorbonne (1910–1911). The best of his early poems were written during this period. Until 1914 he studied philosophy and linguistics at Harvard. Having made a trip to Germany in the summer of 1914, he decided to study at Merton College, Oxford University, where in 1914–1915 he worked on completing his doctoral dissertation on the English philosopher F. G. Bradley (1846–1924).

In September 1914 Eliot met E. Pound in London. Having read his poems in manuscript, he recommended them for publication. Since 1917, Eliot has been assistant editor of The Egoist magazine, where his first book of poems, Prufrock and Other Observations, was published. The poems of 1909–1911 are characterized by an aloof and cool attitude towards romantic themes. In the poems of 1917–1919, written in the form of quatrains, the satirical effect is achieved through a deliberately pedantic accumulation of details and sharp transitions from the sublime to the everyday. Between 1917 and 1925, while serving at Lloyds Bank, he wrote numerous critical articles in his spare time and eventually accepted an unpaid position as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine The Criterion. Eliot became an immediate celebrity when his poem The Waste Land was published in October 1922 in the first issue of the magazine (of which he remained editor until 1939). It is something like a testament of a desperate person who has lost faith in everything and is constructed as a series of mental pictures or dreams that replace each other in the mind of the main character (Tiresias) and are permeated with a vague desire to find inner peace. The poem ends with a call to humility, which the hero addresses to himself. Literary and mythological allusions enlarge the episodes of the poem and give them an ironic sound. The poem was seen as an indictment of post-war European culture and an expression of disillusionment with conventional social ideals. The 1925 poem The Hollow Men, based in part on unpublished parts of The Waste Land, follows a similar tone.

In 1926, Eliot gave a series of lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge University, choosing the theme of 17th-century metaphysical poetry. In 1927 Eliot became a member of the Anglican Church, and this event left its mark on his further poetic work. The poem Ash Wednesday (Ash Wednesday, 1930) is the work of a deeply religious person, the result of a long practice of ascetic self-restraint; his main idea is that everyday suffering can have a redemptive, cleansing effect on the human soul. Returning to the United States after an eighteen-year absence, Eliot taught courses in the history of poetry at Harvard University and the University of Virginia in 1932–1933. Subsequently, he visited America twice more and gave lecture courses there that had a great resonance - at Cambridge in 1939 and at the University of Chicago in 1943. In 1942 Eliot became president of the Association for Classical Studies, and in 1943 - president of the Virgil Society. The Suite Four Quartets (Four Quartets, 1943), which Eliot wrote in 1935–1942, is considered the pinnacle of his poetic mastery.

From Eliot's first play, Sweeney Agonistes (1924), only two scenes written in verse and a prose epilogue survive. In it, Eliot experimented with music hall rhythms and, using expressionist means, tried to create a kind of Japanese no drama. Having co-written the religious mystery The Rock (1934) with E. Martin Brown, he almost immediately created his masterpiece Murder in the Cathedral (1935), a poetic drama about the spiritual crisis and martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket. The Family Reunion (1939), a melodrama about a curse hanging over a family and redemption of guilt, the plot of which goes back to Aeschylus’s trilogy about Orestes, was written especially for it in a trimeter designed and made famous by him. Eliot used the same meter in The Cocktail Party (1949) and The Confidential Clerk (1953), where plots borrowed from Euripides serve as an analysis of self-discovery and vocation, as well as in The Elder Statesman, 1958), the plot of which is somewhat reminiscent of Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus.

As a critic, Eliot is likely to be remembered for the insight of his judgment, as well as his prejudice against certain poets, most notably the Romantics and Milton. Meanwhile, in the article Tradition and the Individual Talent, reprinted in the collection The Sacred Wood, 1920), he formulated two extremely important principles. T.N. The principle of the functional tradition is that the poet must write with the past constantly in mind and at the same time aware that each new work of art changes the meaning of that past. The second principle affirms the idea of ​​the “depersonality” of art: poetry is a craft, i.e. not the “self-expression” of the poet, but the consolidation of human experience in artistic form.

After 1939 Eliot tried to apply doctrinaire principles to social order and the educational system. Thus, in his work Notes towards the Definition of Culture, 1948, he explained his well-known conservative positions on the problems of class division, homogeneity of society and the social role of religious sects. Most of his literary critical works after 1950 were devoted to highly specialized issues, such as the melodic elements of poetry, the relationship of poetry to drama in general and to poetic drama in particular, and the poet’s duty to language. Other prose publications include the collections In Defense of Lancelot Andrews (For Lancelot Andrews, 1928), Selected Essays (1932; updated edition 1950), The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, 1933), Old and new essays (Essays Ancient and Modern, 1936) and On poets and poetry (On Poetry and Poets, 1957).

Biography

Born into a rich family. His grandfather was a priest who built a church and founded a university college. His father was the president of an industrial company, his mother was interested in literary activities. From an early age he showed extraordinary abilities; at the age of 14, under the influence of the poetry of Omar Khayyam, he began to write poetry. In 1906, after graduating from a private school, he entered Harvard University, where he graduated in three years instead of four. For another year he worked as an assistant at the university. He began publishing his poems in the Harvard Advocate magazine, where he began working as an editor. B - lived in Paris and attended lectures on philosophy and languages ​​at the Sorbonne. In particular, he listened to lectures by Henri Bergson and Alain-Fournier. In 1911 he returned to the United States and studied Indian philosophy and Sanskrit for three years as a doctorate at Harvard. Eliot began his literary career with Ezra Pound. Their views had much in common, and Eliot willingly published poems in Imagist anthologies. In 1914, he moved to Europe, first to Marburg, Germany, with the outbreak of World War I he went to England and lived most of his life in this country, working as a bank employee, a school teacher, and then a professor of literature. Eliot first settled in London, then moved to Oxford.

Being an avant-garde poet, he had a rebellious attitude towards the modern world. The central theme of his work was the crisis of the spirit. Eliot's development was noticeably influenced by the then popular ideas about man's loss of spiritual values ​​given to him by God and self-devastation as a consequence of the struggle for survival and the pursuit of material values.

Eliot was also a prominent critic. His articles were published in various periodicals. A collection of his aesthetic works, “The Sacred Forest,” was published. Eliot reminded his contemporaries of the half-forgotten John Donne and other “metaphysical poets,” among whom he especially highly regarded Andrew Marvell and John Webster. Eliot generally rejected the poetry of classicism and romanticism as embodying a “dissociation of sensibility,” that is, a discrepancy between reason and feeling. Eliot sharply contrasted reason and feelings, believing that poetry should not address them directly. “Poetry should neither express the emotions of its creator, nor arouse them in the listener or reader”... Poetry is “an escape from emotions, not an expression of personality, but an escape from personality.”

From 1925 until his death in 1965, he worked for the famous publishing house Faber and Faber (originally Faber and Gwyer) and became its director.

Eliot, like his friend and literary mentor Ezra Pound, was accused of anti-Semitism, but, unlike Pound, he always denied this. Eliot's letters, released in 2003, revealed that Eliot was in fact actively helping Jewish refugees from Austria and Germany settle in England and the United States. [ ]

Eliot was an elitist poet, his poetry is completely different from the works of his contemporary authors. At the same time, the inherent complexity of his work was not Eliot's goal; it was rather a consequence of the non-standard and variety of poetic problems that he posed and solved.

Heritage

Eliot was and remains one of the most respected and widely read poets in the English-speaking world. His poems, plays and critical articles had a significant influence on world culture of the 20th century. Joseph Brodsky responded to the news of Eliot's death with a lengthy elegy. Wendy Cope wrote several parodies of Eliot's poems (including "Limerick's The Waste Land"). Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the popular musical "Cats" based on Eliot's poems. In addition to Webber, Arthur Lurie, Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Sofia Gubaidulina, Thomas Adès, Alexander Manotskov wrote music to Eliot's poems.

American melodic death metal band Darkest Hour used an excerpt from "The Waste Land" as a lyric in their song "The Light at the End of the World" on their 2007 album Deliver Us.

Since 1993, the T. S. Eliot Prize has been awarded for the best collection of new poems first published in Great Britain or Ireland, and since 1997 - the prize of the same name for American poets.

Publications in Russian

• The Waste Land: Selected Poems and Poems / Trans. A. Ya. Sergeeva. - M.: Progress, 1971.
• Selected Poetry. - St. Petersburg. : North-West, 1994.
• The purpose of poetry. - Kyiv: Airland; M.: Perfection, 1997.
• Poems, poems / Trans. K. S. Faraya. - M.: Logos, 1998.
• Murder in the Cathedral: [Plays in verse] / Trans. from English