T.S. Eliot Biography

British Poet, Critic and Playwright, Famous for The Waste Land

Jul 31, 2008
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T.S. Eliot, American-British Poet and Playwright - Wikimedia Commons

Brief biography and works of American-born British poet, critic, essayist and dramatist T.S. Eliot, 1948 Nobel laureate for literature.

T.S. Eliot was one of the most important figures in 20th century literature. Famous for his poem The Waste Land, he revolutionized the way poetry was written.

Early Years of T.S. Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1964) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of seven children raised as a Unitarian. He studied at Harvard University where he was recognized as a brilliant student and where he began work on his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," one of his best-known works. After graduating, he continued his studies in Germany, France and at Oxford University.

T.S. Eliot's Move to England and Literary Life

At the age of 27, Eliot moved to England for good. He worked in a bank at the same time began editing literary magazines. He quickly became a member of London's literary scene – after the publication of his first poetry collection, Prufrock, and Other Observations, he was introduced by Bertrand Russell to the members of the Bloomsbury Group. His next two small volumes, Ara vos prec and the more important The Waste Land, were published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at their Hogarth Press. Later, he joined the publishing company Faber and Faber, where he worked for the rest of his life.

T.S. Eliot's Works

Eliot's most famous work, The Waste Land, was written when he was 34. It is said to have influenced Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust. It is a long poem that caught the mood of despair and confusion felt by many people during the years between the two World Wars when everything seemed to be changing and uncertain. The poem is a mix of references to modern life and great literature of the past, written in a style that combines slang but with scholarly language. It remains one of the great works of 20th-century literature although it is very difficult to understand.

He wrote literary criticism essays The Sacred Wood, Homage to Dryden and Elizabethan Essays, among others. His plays were religious in nature as he adhered to the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Church of England. His Four Quartets poetry is considered as one of the greatest philosophical poems in the language.