The Boston Evening Transcript
The readers of the Boston Evening Transcript
Sway in the blind like a field of ripe corn.
When evening quickens faintly in the street,
Wakening the appetites of life in some
And to others bringing the Boston Evening Transcript,
I mount the steps and ring the bell, turning
Wearily, as one would turn to nod good-bye to Rochefoucauld
If the street were time and he at the end of the street,
And I say, “Cousin Harriet, here is the Boston Evening Transcript.”
—T.S. Eliot, 1915
About the Poet T.S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in 1888 in the United States and later emigrated to the UK, where he became a naturalized British subject in 1927. As a child with some physical limitations, he found himself socially isolated and often turned to books.
Eliot was heavily influenced by his friend Ezra Pound, who assisted him in publication of many of his works, notably “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” in 1915 which was included in his first published collection, Prufrock And Other Observations, in 1917. Eliot is also known for the Four Quartets and The Waste Land which was arguably one of the most influential works of the last century. He also wrote short stories and plays, including Murder in the Cathedral.
In his early years in London he worked as a teacher and later as a banker at Lloyd’s. Eventually Eliot worked for publishing house Faber and Faber, where he published poets such as W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and Ted Hughes. A prominent writer and literary critic, Eliot is regarded as a preeminent English-language poet of the 20th century.
Bonus fun fact: T.S. Eliot published Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats in 1939, a whimsical collection of poems about cats which was later adapted by Andrew Lloyd Weber in the musical Cats.
Bio written by Will Willingham
More T.S. Eliot Resources You Might Enjoy
The Manuscript of “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot
A manuscript facsimile edition of “The Waste Land” helps show how T.S. Eliot wrote the famous Modernist poem.
A Strangely Contemporary Verse Play: “Murder in the Cathedral” by T.S. Eliot
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot, written and produced in 1935, was one of the last verse plays written for the stage. It is also oddly contemporary.
Committing Prufrock: Taking a Stand Against Forgetfulness
Top 10 Quotes from T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
What better place to start reading T. S. Eliot than “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”? To break it down, we start with 10 great quotes plus the whole poem.
Take Your Poet to Work: T.S. Eliot
Take your favorite poet with you to work for Take Your Poet to Work Day coming the 3rd Wednesday July. Here is poet T.S. Eliot.