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'''Thomas Stearns Eliot''' (1888-1965) was an American-born British poet, playwright, and literary critic.  He was a dominant force in the English and American literary scene during the middle third of the twentieth century, and presented a powerful conservative voice. His poems include "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915), "The Waste Land" (1922, and "The Journey of the Magi" in 1927; his plays include "Murder in the Cathedral" (1935). His light verse book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" (1939), later made intt the hit musical "Cats" (1981).  He studied at Oxford, Paris, and Harvard.  He won the Nobel Prize for literature.

'''Thomas Stearns Eliot''' (1888-1965) was an American-born British poet, playwright, and literary critic.  He was a dominant force in the English and American literary scene during the middle third of the twentieth century, and presented a powerful conservative voice. His poems include "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915), "The Waste Land" (1922, and "The Journey of the Magi" in 1927; his plays include "Murder in the Cathedral" (1935). His light verse book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" (1939), later made intt the hit musical "Cats" (1981).  He studied at Oxford, Paris, and Harvard.  He won the Nobel Prize for literature.

T. S. Eliot was born and grew up in St. Louis, [[Missouri]], from a prominent intellectual family of Yankee origins.  But in 1914 he moved to England and in 1927 he renounced his American citizenship, became a British subject, and converted to Anglicanism. He described himself as "classicist in literature, royalist in politics, and Anglo-Catholic in religion." Eliot's religious views are most notably contained in the poem ''Ash Wednesday'', which he wrote in 1927 after his conversion, and particularly in the ''Four Quartets''. These were four related poems published separately between 1935 and 1942, and republished in one volume in 1943. Their titles are ''Burnt Norton'',<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/norton.html</ref> ''East Coker'',<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/coker.html</ref> ''The Dry Salvages'',<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/salvages.html</ref> and ''Little Gidding''.<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/gidding.html</ref>

T. S. Eliot was born and grew up in St. Louis, [[Missouri]], from a prominent intellectual family of Yankee origins.  But in 1914 he moved to England.

 

In 1927 Eliot was baptised into the Church of England, became a subject of the king, published essays by conservative thinkers, and proclaimed himself, "classicist in literature, royalist in politics, and anglo-catholic in religion." He became deeply involed in Church affairs and wrote a historical play about the Church, "Murder in the Cathedral," which was first performed in the chapter house of Canterbury Cathedral in June 1935.

 

Eliot's religious views are most notably contained in the poem ''Ash Wednesday'', which he wrote in 1927 after his conversion, and particularly in the ''Four Quartets''. These were four related poems published separately between 1935 and 1942, and republished in one volume in 1943. Their titles are ''Burnt Norton'',<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/norton.html</ref> ''East Coker'',<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/coker.html</ref> ''The Dry Salvages'',<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/salvages.html</ref> and ''Little Gidding''.<ref>http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/gidding.html</ref>

Eliot considered ''Four Quartets'' to be his masterpiece. It draws upon his study, over three decades, of mysticism and philosophy. Christian imagery and symbolism in the poems is abundant.

Eliot considered ''Four Quartets'' to be his masterpiece. It draws upon his study, over three decades, of mysticism and philosophy. Christian imagery and symbolism in the poems is abundant.