Review 83: The Wasteland (T.S. Eliot)

The definitive poem of the modern era by the greatest modern american poet. This provides a vivid picture of Eliot's life before his conversion. He sees the modern world, and his own life in it, with bracing clarity: drudgery, atutomatism, hopelessness, and a fragmented existence; the form of this poem reflects modernism. Perhaps Eliot's seeing the world of modernism so clearly led to his seeing the need of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you compare this to "The Four Quartets" you would think they were by a different author. The "Quartets" presents a world of order and hope. The writer is the same, but his his heart is changed. He is a new man; a new poet.