A Macat Analysis of T. S. Eliot's The Sacred Wood

The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism. London: Faber & Faber, 1997

Famous as an accomplished poet, T. S. Eliot was also the author of some highly important literary criticism. First published in 1920, The Sacred Wood collects 13 of Eliot's early critical essays. He intended them to be a statement of his principles for literary achievement. These concepts - and the works that Eliot wrote after setting out his principles - inspired many major poets of the twentieth century. Some wanted to imitate him, while many others looked to disagree with him. But few since can be said to have fully escaped Eliot's influence.

In these essays, Eliot proposes rules for how a poet should relate to a poem and to the poetic tradition. His twin concepts of "impersonality" and "tradition" have had a lasting impact. The Sacred Wood's arguments fueled conversations in the literary world for several decades, and established Eliot's reputation as a fine literary critic. Indeed, many consider him to be one of the greatest of the twentieth century. The Sacred Wood shows why.

You can find out more about how Eliot's ideas have been challenged and applied - and how his work has impacted on thinkers in other academic disciplines - by exploring further in the Macat Library.

Macat's analyses cover 14 different subjects in the humanities and social sciences.

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