Inventions of the March Hare: Poems 1909-1917

by T.S. Eliot, Christopher Ricks (Editor)

This extraordinary trove of previously unpublished early works includes drafts of poems such as “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” as well as ribald verse and other youthful curios. “Perhaps the most significant event in Eliot scholarship in the past twenty-five years” (New York Times Book Review). Edited by Christopher Ricks.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

472 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948 "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry." He wrote the poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday, and Four Quartets; the plays Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party; and the essay Tradition and the Individual Talent. Eliot was born an American, moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 (at the age of 25), and became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.S._Eliot

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though Eliot's poetry is work I find decent or great, this collection is an EXCELLENT scholarly edition of his work of the time in the title. In depth descriptions of the notebook the poems were written in and copious notes for each poem really make this book perfect for students of poetry.

[to'c · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite fun and a joy to read. I'm not much of a poetry reader and I really should have read more T. S. Eliot before reading this. The whole point is that it's not a finished set of poems. Some of them have a familiar ring, some of them I know, and some (the more delightful ones, imo) I have never, ever seen.

Eliot fans will eat this thing up. Perhaps with a bit of frustration. But I think anyone will enjoy it.

Truth to tell, I picked it up for the March Hare reference, being something of an Alice fan. And it really is a reference to that March Hare. The White Knight had his inventions. These are the Inventions of the March Hare. Mad. Truly mad.

[Daniel Klawitter]

"These emotional experiences
Do not hold good at all,
And I feel like the ghost of youth
At the undertaker's ball."

[Warwick Stubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're only peripherally into Eliot, this won't be of much use, but for those of us who really like or love Eliot, the book serves as a great notebook with annotations of where Eliot might have or did derive his ideas, verses, and lines from. Some poems like Prufrock appear in draft versions, others are unpublished; the majority seem like attempts to find something deep but end up often as sketches. There are still some extremely enjoyable poetry here one way or another, but more than 50% of the book is editor's notes. I found some of them interesting, others not so much.

[Juan Medina · Rating 5 out of 5]

"
TSE

[Skylar Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume had a copious amount of notes. I did not read them all. I read all the poems, however. Many of the poems expunged from the notebook included in the appendix were...um...interesting. Some read like dirty limericks. It was cool to be able to read drafts of my favorite Eliot poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

A must for any T.S. Eliot student or fan. Not for the casual reader who wants a first introduction to Eliot.

[York · Rating 5 out of 5]

TS Eliot es uno de esos autores a los que siempre regreso, sé que para leer un libro de poemas uno debe tomarse su tiempo, pero la lírica de Eliot siempre me jala y termino leyendo todo de corrido, los pasajes, la métrica, el tono entre lo sombrío y la dicha por sentirse condenado o roto. Es un autor indispensable.

[James Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think many people know of this book. It's my favorite book of Eliot. It's his (previously) unpublished early poetry. His college notebook basically. Beautiful lyrics and meditations.

If you like Eliot, but this today. Stop playing on Goodreads and buy it.

[Ryan R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because all the poems in this collection are unpublished, the poetry tends to not be Eliot's best. However, the simplicity is somewhat refreshing.

[Janusz · Rating 5 out of 5]

early draft of prufrock; much darker turn.

[paul kang · Rating 5 out of 5]

T.S. Eliot is capable of creating powerful and moving images. I love this poet, and I love this book.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not only Eliot's poems but some of his papers and outlines for some of his poems. Interesting and a great library addition if you're an Eliot fan.

[JUANAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You may say what you will,/ At such peace I am terrified."

"There will be time, there will be time/ To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;/ [...] Time for you and time for me,/ And time yet for a hundred indecisions/ And for a hundred visions and revisions/ Between the taking of a toast and tea."

"–I have seen the darkness creep along the wall/ I have heard my Madness chatter before day/ I have seen the world roll up into a ball/ Then suddenly dissolve and fall away."

"Losing the end of his desire/ Desires completion of his loss."

"Imaginations/ Masturbations/ The withered leaves/ Of our sensations"

"And we who seek to balance pleasure and pain/ We blow against the wind and spit against the rain:/ For what could be more real than sweat and dust and sun?/ And what more sure than night and death and sleep?"

"And I wonder alone/ Without haste without hope without fear/ Without pressure or touch–/ [...] Nothing here/ But the warm/ Dry airless sweet scent/ of the alleys of death/ of the corridors of death"

[Mahmoud Haggui · Rating 4 out of 5]

يقال ان للموسيقي ميزة هي أن المرء يستطيع أن يجعل التأثيرات الموسيقية منسجمة مع اي احساس يحسه. فمن كان فرحاً ادرك في أصوات الموسيقي فرحاً، و من كان حزيناً ادرك فيها حزناً و ألماً. إن كانت "الحرب السلام" تتميز بصعوبة قراءتها فى الأدب الروسي، و إذا كانت "البجث عن الزمن الضائع" هي الأصعب فى الأدب الفرنسي،فإن "ميردل مارش" تمتلك سمعة كافية لتجعل منها نظيراً لهما. "

[Alison Culpepper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE T.S. Eliot, but these poems were not my favorite.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unreadable.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bolo Verses....enough said (if you don't know what they are and you like TSE just avoid....)

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love to reread all these lovely poems