![]() ![]() In East Coker one is confronted with this challenge. One can become so immersed in researching the derivation of the material that a preoccupation with the sources can obfuscate the poet's primary purpose - the poem as a holistic form, not a series of obscure references. It is all-too-easy when studying the Four Quartets to become diverted by the range of erudite references which Eliot uses. Account is taken of how Eliot's use of cyclical images, and the language he uses to create them, impacts on the reader's perception of the division and unity between the physical and spiritual dimensions of human existence. As well as the linguistic aspects of Eliot's poem I shall be referring to the reader-response theory of Wolfgang Iser to demonstrate how the symbols used to convey the cyclic repetitive patterns of being are as much the fruit of the reader's interpretation as they are of the poet's intent. Eliot (1888 - 1965) employs the medium of language to parallel and reflect his perception of the cyclical and repetitive patterns of the life and death process. In this discussion I shall be examining Eliot's use of a range of linguistic devices in East Coker. ![]() ![]() Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass. Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,Īre removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place English Literature Essays T S Eliot: Four Quartets ![]()
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