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Thomas Stearns Eliot: Poet

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A. David Moody's THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT: Poet first appeared in 1979 and proved a very popular account of the Eliot's entire body of poetry. This second edition appeared in 1994, and besides minor corrections it features a new preface and a new appendix.

Moody's focus here is on Eliot's poetry in itself. The poet's biography is kept to a minimum, and there is little discussion of the role of Vivien Eliot, let alone Emily Hale or Jean Verdenal. The poems are, however, linked to Eliot's thoughts as a critic. In the main, Moody examples the metre and imagery of Eliot's writing, and in the later poetry the social and political concepts that the poet sought to express.

While the book is useful, I was unhappy with it for several reasons. One is that Moody's writing is extremely plodding. I read criticism frequently, and I find this probably the most unfriendly accounts of a poet's work that I've yet encountered. The poor typesetting and printing don't help either, and one expects better of Cambridge University Press.

Furthermore, the book is also dated in many respects. One can rejoice that it appeared after the discovery of the manuscripts of "The Waste Land", saving us from the old conjectures such as "The Hollow Men" coming out of TWL scraps. Nonetheless, the discussion of the early poetry lacks all the material revealed after the discovery of the drafts collected in Inventions of the March Hare Poems 1909-1917. Furthermore, the main body of the work was left alone when the second edition appeared, and the author says outright that he did not want to include recent developments in Eliot studies. What kind of scholar intentionally ignores progress in the field?

And finally, Moody's discussion of the "Burbank" poem completely ignores its anti-Semitism. Now, since Moody is examining the work instead of the man, I don't expect him to hammer Eliot for it, but no one can deny that the crude reference to the Jew in the poem makes it very weak poetry.

If you are a fan of T.S. Eliot's work, this is worth seeking out in your university's collections. Copies are now priced economically, so getting your own copy might be appealing, but I still think that it's not worth it.

I have taken many notes from this beautifully written book about Eliot by A. David Moody. Never have I read anything on Eliot that has so moved me as a poet, both on the professional and personal level. I was impressed by Professor Moody's incisive, original insights and finely shaped prose. I read literary criticism, as I read literature in general, for the knowledge gained, for intellectural stimulation and for the sheer pleasure of "a good read." Moody achieves all this and more. As a reader I was taken for the first time into the complex workings of Eliot's mind, emotions and creative life via the poetry, as presented by Moody. This is imaginative and thought-provoking book, while all the time expressed in beautiful prose. A poet of Eliot's stature deserves the best of critical writing and this is what Moody brings into the field of Eliot criticism. I recommend this book to all who are interested in Eliot and also to those who enjoy a book for the sheer pleasure it brings, as a literary work in itself. You can't go wrong with Thomas Stearns Eliot Poet by A. David Moody.
-- Carolyn M. Grassi, poet, creative writing teacher (Pacifica, CA)
author: Transparencies, Poems (Patmos Press, San Francisco CA)
Journey to Chartres (Black Swan Books)