Poem of the Day, January 4th: A Little Late Edition

[Anonymous No.21478294]

Morning! Here is today's poem. Discuss what you like about it, what you don't, and even post other poems by the author. Have a wonderful day, anons.

[Anonymous No.21478301]

>>21478294
>The 1948 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, T.S. Eliot is highly distinguished as a poet, a literary critic, a dramatist, an editor, and a publisher. In 1910 and 1911, while still a college student, he wrote “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” published in Poetry magazine, and other poems that are landmarks in the history of modern literature. Eliot’s most notable works include The Waste Land (1922), Four Quartets (1943), and the play Murder in the Cathedral (1935). Eliot’s awards and honors include the British Order of Merit and the Nobel Prize for Literature. His play The Cocktail Party won the 1950 Tony Award for Best Play. In 1964, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats was famously adapted in 1981 into the musical Cats, which won seven Tony Awards. Despite his enduring popularity, Eliot and his work have been criticized as having prejudiced views, particularly anti-Semitism.

Full biography here
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/t-s-eliot

[Anonymous No.21478314]

>>21478294
I myself like the first 2 stanzas much more than the rest. They are more enjoyable to read than the rest, metrically and rhyming wise, and I don't think the end line has a strong enough buildup to have the most impact it could. I'll have to read it a few more times. I know many people enjoy T.S. Eliot.

[Anonymous No.21478998]

I have to admit I wasn’t too impressed on my first read, but I felt urged to take it more seriously because it’s T.S. Eliot. The poem could be interpreted as many disparate memories of the writer or speaker, or perhaps some synthesized memories: “memory throws up high and dry a crowd of twisted things.” The smooth branch is immediately contrasted with a rusty spring: both are forms of decay, but one is organic and stiff like a skeleton, the other industrial and ready to break. This dichotomy is reversed between the streetlamp and the moon, where the latter is a natural body, but now weak, like a woman who suffered smallpox and its memory fading. The streetlamp is the arbiter of memory here, and is not even described as a product of industry or like anything else in the poem. It gives light - the moon is weak, and the sun isn’t there to nourish the geraniums. The lamp is a fatalistic drum beating against our periphery - they are everywhere, constantly observers of scenes like these: “I have seen eyes in the street / Trying to peer through lighted shutters.” Does everyone become like this because of artificial light? Do cities sap energy and life out of people? It’s not exactly a new observation. Sorry if any of this comes off as pseudointellectual, I’m not married to anything I wrote here myself.

[Anonymous No.21479508]

>>21478314
After reading it again, it flows well, but again, not enjoyable to read for me after the first 2 stanzas, besides a couple lines.

[Anonymous No.21480412]

>>21478294
Love this one. Love all of it. God bless the guys who errected the lamp he thought of when he wrote this.

[Anonymous No.21480441]

>>21478294
>this is /lit/'s favorite poet

[Anonymous No.21480655]

>>21478294
It's a strong poem. To examine it thouroughly here would take more time than I have to give, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks for sharing, OP.

[Anonymous No.21480671]

>>21478294 (OP)
It's a strong poem. To examine it thoroughly here would take more time than I have to give, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks for sharing, OP.

[Anonymous No.21480855]

>>21478294
Why did you stop linking to previous posts, anon? I don't come by here every day but I love going back through as many as I can. Regardless I thank you for bringing so many wonderful poems and artists to my attention. I greatly appreciate your work.

[Anonymous No.21480872]

>>21480855
The previous poem of the day poster has stopped doing it, so I decided to do it in his place. I didn't realize he linked to past posts. Did he just link to the previous day in the archive? I can try to do the same if you'd like.

[Anonymous No.21480873]

>>21480671
Of course. Happy to remind or show people a great poem

[Anonymous No.21481118]

>>21480872
Ah, well thanks very much for stepping up! There was just a note at the bottom of each post saying "yesterday's poem of the day can be found here" and a post number that was also a link, which wasn't afaik to an archive or off-site since if you followed enough of them in a row eventually they'd 404. Unfortunately I'm a noob phoneposter and I have no idea how the formatting/linking work. Maybe someone else can explain?

[Anonymous No.21481122]

>>21481118
Actually I think I figured it out just looking at my previous post. Seems you just

>>21480872

The post number and it links automatically

[Anonymous No.21481407]

>>21481122
Yes, I can link to the previous poem of the day thread when I make a new one, but they usually 404 once the new one gets going, unless it's a slow day. I will try to remember tomorrow morning, but if I forget and you see it, kindly remind me. Still mess this up since I'm fresh at it. Thanks for giving me some feedback on how I could do it better. Have a wonderful evening