(1920) was the first book of prose writings by the American-born poet T. S. Eliot. A collection of literary essays, it was written in 1919-20 in the time that Eliot, then aged 30-31, could spare from his day-job at Lloyd’s Bank in London. Within a few years, its growing reputation established Eliot as the commanding new critical authority of his generation both in Britain and in the USA, shaping critical thought for decades to come. With its emphases on the impersonality of literary art and the obligation of criticism to analyse works rather than enthuse about literary personalities or periods, Eliot’s book represented a renewal by self-purification of literary criticism and its purposes.
The Sacred Woodis one of the landmark works of literary criticism in the English…
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Citation: Baldick, Chris. "The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 February 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7636, accessed 23 November 2024.]
