The Poems of T. S. Eliot: Read by Jeremy Irons

by T.S. Eliot

Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Jeremy Irons' perceptive reading illuminates the poetry of T. S. Eliot in all its complexity. Major poems range from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' through the post-war desolation of 'The Waste Land' and the spiritual struggle of 'Ash-Wednesday', to the enduring charm of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'.

The Spectator praised Jeremy Irons' interpretation as 'so accessible, reading Eliot as if finding his words for the first time, grappling with them, relishing them, using them to express feelings that we all share as we struggle to accept, to recognise or relinquish'. Dame Eileen Atkins also appears alongside Jeremy Irons in the reading of 'The Waste Land'.

UPDATED EDITION WITH POEM TITLES FOR EASY NAVIGATION.

Genres: Poetry, Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published April 5, 2018

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

[Brendan Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading (while, listening to) this much TS Eliot since I took a Modern Poetry class in college. A few thoughts:

1. Jeremy Irons did well reading, and I enjoyed listening to all the poems I'd remembered (Prufrock, the Wasteland, Song of the Magi, some others). It's hard to justify giving this less than four stars on this account. These are genuinely good poems!
2. That being said, I think a lot of TS Eliot's other work seems a bit tough to swallow. He tends to be pretty esoteric and preachy, and I have mixed feelings in particular about the Four Quartets (which was his biggest poem in his later life). Throughout his poems, there's a bit of anti-semitism and racism and a fair amount of (implicit) religious and cultural conservativism mixed in.
3. Because of this, I think Eliot seems older/more distant from contemporary poets than do some of his contemporaries (Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Dylan Thomas, etc.). Eliot's influence (not only as a poet, but as an editor and critic) is undeniable, but I think it's generally OK that poets don't write quite like this any more :).

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely read, although several Poems were incomplete. E.g, Gerontion was read without its preface: "Thou hast nor youth nor age..."
Nevertheless, Jeremy Irons' reading was fine.