The Economist (US), October 1st, 1988
THE LETTERS OF T.S.ELIOT. VOLUME 1: 1898,1922. Edited by Valerie Eliot. Faber; 639 pages; 25.00 [pounds]. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; $29.95.
IT WAS Ezra Pound who nicknamed T.S. Eliot "Possum", to indicate that his fellow-expatriate's punctiliously formal manner cloaked the most radically innovative poet of his time. A possum-like formality marked Eliot's hugely influential criticism as well. After the first world war he overturned the nineteenth century's view of poetry as sentimental self-expression, substituting a rigorous classical ideal of intellect, tradition and impersonality. Poetry...
HighBeam Research, Free Preview: 'The Letters of T.S. Eliot. Volume 1: 1898-1922.'... Full Membership required for unlimited access. Free 7-day trial.
Subscribers: HighBeam content is only available to HighBeam subscribers. Click the link above for more information.
