The Waste Land and Other Poems: Including The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451526848 ISBN 13: 9780451526847

Publisher: Signet, 1998

A collection of T.S. Eliot’s most important poems, including “The Waste Land” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

T. S. Eliot is one of the most important and influential poets of the twentieth century. His unique and innovative evocations of the folly and poetry of humanity helped reshape modern literature, with poems such as “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” included here, and most notable, the title poem, “The Waste Land,” his groundbreaking masterpiece of postwar decay and redemption. Since its publication in 1922, “The Waste Land” has become one of the most widely studied modernist texts in English literature.

Gathering together many of Eliot's major early poems, distinguished Harvard scholar and literary critic Helen Vendler presents an invaluable portrait of T. S. Eliot as a young poet and examines the artistry and craft that made him a Nobel laureate and one of the most significant voices in modern verse.

Review:

After sitting through T.S. Eliot's reading of "The Waste Land," listeners may be inclined to hang up the earphones for a spell. There are no flaws to Eliot's steady-toned interpretation; in fact, his delivery is quite remarkable in its ability to match the poem's constant, somber mood. It's just that 25-plus minutes of Eliot's desolate landscapes--rendered even more real by the author's incessant tones--can wear on the emotions.

In addition to the full-length version of "The Waste Land," this recording includes Eliot's stirring narration of "The Hollow Men," "Sweeney Among the Nightingales," and "Macavity the Mystery Cat." Listen to Eliot read from "The Waste Land." Visit our audio help page for more information. (Running time: 47 minutes, 1 cassette) --Rob McDonald

From the Back Cover:

This volume brings together the full contents of Prufrock and Other Observations (1917), Poems (1920), and The Waste Land (1922), together with an informative introduction and a selection of background materials. Included as well are two of Eliot’s most influential essays, “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (1919) and “The Metaphysical Poets” (1921).

As with other volumes in this series, the material appearing here is for the most part drawn from The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, acclaimed as “the new standard” in the field. Appendices include a wide range of contextual materials pertaining to Modernism; writings by Ezra Pound, H.D., and Mina Loy; reviews of The Waste Land; art by Wyndham Lewis; and excerpts from essays by Virginia Woolf and others.