T.S. ELIOT
(1888-1965)

"I am an Anglo-Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature, and a royalist in politics." T.S. Eliot so defined, and even exaggerated, his own conservatism. The ideas of this stimulating writer were perhaps traditional, but the way in which he expressed them was extremely modern. Eliot was one of the first to reject conventional verse forms and language. His experiments with free expression contributed to his reputation as one of the most influential writers of his time.
  Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Mo., on Sept. 26, 1888. His family had produced distinguished Americans since colonial days. He entered Harvard University in 1906, completed his course in three years, and earned a master's degree the next year. After a year at the Sorbonne in Paris, he returned to Harvard. Further study led him to Merton College, Oxford, and he decided to stay in England. He worked first as a teacher and then in a bank. Precise and moderate in his habits, he devoted his evenings to study and writing. He liked cats and wrote a book about them 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats', published in 1939. It was the basis for 'Cats', a spectacular musical comedy of the 1980s.
  In 1915 the verse magazine Poetry published Eliot's first notable piece, 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'. This was followed by other short poems such as 'Portrait of a Lady'. 'The Waste Land', which appeared in 1922, is considered by many to be his most challenging work (see American Literature).
  In 1927 Eliot became a British subject and was confirmed in the Church of England. His essays ('For Lancelot Andrewes', 1928) and his poetry ('Four Quartets', 1943) increasingly reflected this association with a traditional culture.
  His first drama was 'The Rock' (1934), a pageant play. This was followed by 'Murder in the Cathedral' (1935), a play dealing with the assassination of Archbishop Thomas a Becket, who was later canonized (see Becket). 'The Family Reunion' appeared in 1939. 'The Cocktail Party', based upon the ancient Greek drama 'Alcestis' by Euripides, came out in 1950 and 'The Confidential Clerk' in 1953. The dialogue in his plays is written in a free, rhythmical verse pattern. Eliot won the Nobel prize for literature in 1948 and other major literary awards. The author was married twice. He died on Jan. 4, 1965, in London. ¹
______________________________
¹Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 Compton's NewMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved