The Voices of Silence: Meditations on T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets

by J.C. Woods

T. S. Eliot had moved on to Drama and was uncertain whether he would ever write poetry again, but some lines he had cut from his first play, Murder in the Cathedral, stuck in his imagination. They became seeds. And, in the tumult preceding the Second World War,the seeds began to sprout. This was the genesis of Eliot's final suite of poems, the Four Quartets. Each poem saw separate publication before they were bound together into a single unit. There are four one for each of the base elements of physical reality air,earth, water and fire. Each poem is connected to a place the poet revisits in Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvage and Little Gidding . As a whole it constitutes a brilliant meditation on time, eternity and those timeless moments when the two intersect. Eliot is a notoriously difficult poet, known for his wide allusions to the entire of the European poetic canon. In this poem he also alludes to the ancient scriptures of India. Luckily, Father Woods is available as tour guide, to lead you profitably through this literary adventure.Show more Show less

Genres: Poetry

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 23, 2013

Reviews

[Ashley Adams]

This piece of criticism largely examines the influence of Dante and The Bhagavad Gita in T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. I would recommend some familiarity with these texts prior to reading The Voices of Silence.

[David Bisset]

Taxing meditations

I now have fuller understanding of the Four Quartets, but my understanding is still partial. My understanding of The Voices of Silence is also partial. Lent will be appropriate to return to this book and to the Four Quartets. Eliot is not easy to understand, but the attempt is worth it!