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American poet T.S. Eliot spent most of his life in England, the land of his forebears, eventually becoming an Anglican convert. As such, footage of a church service in the expatriate's ancestral village of East Coker is featured prominently in this video, as excerpts from his work are read and a variety of poets and authors share their memories and opinions of this icon of 20th-century poetry. Eliot was a complicated man who wrote complicated works, most notably "The Wasteland." Many of these complexities--his classism, his marriages (one unhappy, one happy), his mentoring of Ezra Pound, his straight-laced manner, and ardent religious beliefs are only touched upon in this 56-minute video. Actress Dame Irene Worth discusses his acute observations of society people and professor-playwright William Alfred ponders the relevance and humor of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." In between these observations are excerpts from the poems themselves, illustrated by moody, sometimes conceptual, dramatizations.
--Kimberly Heinrichs