The Poems of T. S. Eliot: Volume I

Book excerpt: A new edition of the two-volume T. S. Eliot poems This critical edition of T. S. Eliot’s poems establishes a new text of the Collected Poems, 1909–1962, rectifying accidental omissions and errors that have crept in during the century since Eliot’s astonishing debut, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” As well as the masterpieces, The Poems of T. S. Eliot: Volume I contains the poems of his youth, which were rediscovered only decades later; others that circulated privately during his lifetime; and love poems from his final years, written for his wife, Valerie. Christopher Ricks and Jim McCue have provided a commentary that illuminates the imaginative life of each poem. Calling upon Eliot’s critical writings as well as his drafts, letters, and other original materials, Ricks and McCue illustrate not only the breadth of Eliot’s interests and the range of his writings but how it was that the author of “Gerontion” came to write “Triumphal March” and then Four Quartets. Thanks to the family and friends who recognized Eliot’s genius and preserved his writings from an early age, the archival record is exceptionally complete, enabling us to follow in unique detail the progress of a mind that never ceased exploring.