Sobre poesía y poetas

by T.S. Eliot

The Nobel Prize-winning poet's literary essays and lectures on Virgil, Sir John Davies, Milton, Johnson, Byron, Goethe, Kipling, Yeats, and the art of poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Criticism, Criticism, Writing, Literature

298 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

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

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Ph.D advisor Leonard Unger* made his career on the first book studying TS Eliot's verse, in 1947, and to the end of his life, as a scholar and wit, he returned to Eliot's subjects, like 17C wits (and Shakespeare) as well as to Eliot himself, in Eliot's Compound Ghost, which strongly influenced my own dissertation, This Critical Age: Deliberate Departures from Literary Conventions in Seventeenth Century English Poetry (1976/ 1981). I read much of On Poetry... prior to graduate school, as an undergrad at Amherst College, in courses on Criticism and in writing my senior thesis on The Uses of Prosody, on four 16 and 17C English poets, Wyatt, Spenser, Donne and Milton. Eliot's reflections on Milton's poetry (two essays here) remark the Secretary of State's (then called Latin Secretary, under Cromwell) freedom with blank verse.
Eliot's remarks on Vergil's almost chance prominence in Christian poetry, especially the Fourth Eclogue which happened to mention the Virgin, and a child to be born to eternal life. Eliot may also remark on Vergil's prosody, his alliterative hexameters, but I do not now recall half a century later.
In "On Poetry and Poets," Eliot says a major purpose for contemporary poets is to meld in colloquial language without diminishing commonplace activities and thought. I paraphrase, which my mentor L Unger never did. At any rate, Eliot might have been more tolerant than I for the colloquialisms of Rap, though I suspect he too would have considered it what Chaucer's Host asseses Chaucer's own terrible tale to be, "Rime doggerel."

* Leonard and his good friend Saul Bellow, over lunch at the U of Minnesota Faculty Club, translated the 1st four lines of TS Eliot's "Wasteland" into...Yiddish!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Useful for my dissertation but oh my god Eliot is a pretentious fucker and so racist in this criticism book...

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little pissy because I was in the middle of writing a review for this book and then the app crashed on me so I have to start all over 😤 Anyway Eliot is one of THE poets to know and I really liked reading his thoughts and opinions on different topics and themes in the poetry world ™. My two favorite essays of his in this book are “The Social Function of Poetry” and “The Three Voices of Poetry.” There’s a line that really stuck out to me in the first essay: “It is easier to think in a foreign language than it is to feel in it. Therefore no art is more stubbornly national than poetry… unless you teach that people to feel in a new language, you have not eradicated the old one, and it will reappear in poetry, which is the vehicle of feeling.” Very cool thoughts.

The other half of the book was on specific poets and critiquing their work, and I haven’t really read a lot of the talked about poets in that section to really understand or enjoy what Eliot was talking about. Still cool though, just not as memorable.

Solid read 4/5 would recommend if you enjoy reading literary criticism or theory.

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those intellectual and insightful reads that make you feel better cultivated for reading. Many of the insights into what makes good poetry were instructive and inspiring, but at the same time intimidating - like, wow, how did I ever think I could aspire to do this? He is specifically discussing great poets and what defined them. This is not meant to be a friendly chuck under the chin, but a thoughtful analysis of what makes great poetry great. But also there was a sense of having the bar raised that made me want to work hard at this craft and be excellent.
The exclusively male focus was a bit discouraging or painful at moments, as poets are always referenced as men and 'he' in a way that didn't feel like he was just referencing 'mankind', women included. That didn't keep me from appreciating what he had to say about Milton, Shakespeare, Johnson, Kipling, and other great male poets. They were pretty outstanding after all. And maybe he didn't feel competent to discuss female poets. You have to take writers for who they are in the time they lived. Whatever his failings, Eliot is brilliant and elevating to read - well, in the case of this book, you will want to be familiar with at least some of the poets being discussed, which I was. Sir John Davies was probably the least familiar, but I still enjoyed that chapter.

[Tuli Márquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

algunes peces ja les coneixia. Un pou de coneixement. I una aproximació necessària pels amants de la poesia i la història de la literatura.

[Ash Giri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant work by Eliot. He is one of those critics that enflames our love for language. Highly recommended.

[Zhi Zhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read the whole book—I stopped before the "On Poets" section because I would only want to read it after I acquaint myself with the works of the poets discussed.

T.S. Eliot has a very melodic way of writing that is very pleasant to read. His thoughts and opinions come across as self-aware and humble, which I deeply appreciate. Eliot also offered great answers to a question that has been tormenting me for a long time: what is good poetry? I definitely see myself coming back to this book many times in the future as I dive deeper into poetry.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of speeches and essays introduced me to Eliot, the critic.
Does the present chaos and violence follow, inevitably, from that of Eliot's epoch?

[Salvatore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Eliot! - why can you write poetry and analysis so well? Even when I'm not familiar with the poet you're talking about, I still am interested. Except when it comes to Samuel Johnson. Sometimes there are just authors you know you'll never get to - Johnson is one. I much prefer Robbie Coltraine's portrayal of him in Black Adder. Now that is how I'd like to remember SJ. Anyway, asides away, this classic (I'm daring to use that word) collection of essays also acts as a good look into the mind of Eliot and how his poetics/poetic eyes work. Virgil is probably overpraised. Byron is amusingly lauded and shunned, and for justifiable reasons (perhaps the man was just better at sex than at pushing the future of the English language a bit closer to the light; I shall always recall the lascivious lord via Hark a Vagrant's comic about him). And man, is Eliot obsessed with the verse play. I mean, come on - Shakespeare kind of upset the apple cart for anyone wanting to go down that road...At least Tom Sterns knew his limitations.

Joking aside, a very worthwhile collection to anyone interested in literature, not even just poetry and poetics. Eliot's writing will just showcase how to showcase your own enthusiasm about writers who indeed caress words into something grander than meer sentences.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rating and this review are technically tentative because I have only read the first "On Poetry" section and the essay "Virgil and the Christian World," which is most of the work anyway. For that, Mr Eliot's perspective and thoughts, as well as his personality, impress and charm me.

I'm holding off on reading his specific criticisms of authors in the second "On Poets" part because I'd rather read those authors for myself first.

[Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

The overall rating is tentative because only the first "On Poetry" section and the essay "Virgil and the Christian World" were read.

[Steve Dewey · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was dull.

[Adam F · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first and last essay in poetry are the most vibrant and important.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

[NumberNine · Rating 5 out of 5]

the thoughts are thoughtful and lightening