Waste Land and Other Poems

Eliot's major work, The Wasteland, was controversial when it appeared in 1922. Considered both obscure and radical, it utilizes a combination of modern slang and ancient myth, arcane literary allusion and jazzy modernity. Eliot also included helpful but pedantic footnotes. However, the poem is lyrical and hypnotic, and its collage-like mode is, in the end, an effective form for the expression of Eliot's view of the fragmentation and degeneration of modern life. Much of the poem's final shape was influenced by Ezra Pound, who served as Eliot's mentor in its writing--a fact which only emerged with the publication of a facsimile manuscript in 1972. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.