T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets is full of beautiful and resounding imagery, yet the art of unfolding these images, discovering the movement and drama taking place in and between them, often remains elusive. In this thesis, I approach this problem by offering a detailed reading of Eliot's four poems, tracing the repetition and subtle movements of these patterns of images and the connections between them. I show how in each poem, Eliot develops a set of images that uniquely depicts the entrance of the timeless into time; these images offer ways of framing the problem of responding to revelations of deeper reality, which I take to be the poem's central drama. At the same time, across the whole of the four poems, this reoccurring drama—the issue of the intersection of the timeless with time and the poet's response to this intersection—continues to develop, becoming more complex and layered in each of the poems. Unfolding the different but parallel movements that are enacted across the four poems gives us a better understanding of the way the poems work together as a whole, harmonizing with one another to expand and deepen the individual images and momentary expressions of emotion each poem conveys. / Master of Arts / T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets is a complex and intricate series of poems. In this thesis, I draw on the work of key critics as I offer a detailed reading of these four poems, tracing the repetition and subtle movements of Eliot’s patterns of images and the connections between them. I show how in each poem, Eliot develops a set of images that uniquely depict revelations of deeper reality, the entrance of the timeless into time—I view the response to these revelations as the central problem of the poems. At the same time, across the whole of the four poems, this reoccurring drama—the issue of the intersection of the timeless with time and the poet’s response to this intersection—continues to develop, becoming more complex and layered in each of the poems. Following these pattern of response across the four poems gives us a better understanding of the way the poems work not only individually, but as a unified whole.

This sequential reading of Four Quartets attends closely to form, rhythm, image, idea, syntax, tone, and mood, examining the relations of one to another and of one part of the cycle to another. It draws on earlier studies which are mainly thematic, but it concentrates primarily on analysis of the poetry itself. Such a commentary does not set out to prove a single hypothesis, and therefore does not lend itself to simple summary. But it emphasises, inter alia, these features. 1. The Quartets are rightly read as a unified cycle. The first three, though relatively complete in themselves, are built upon and retrospectively modified by their successors in a complex pattern; and the recurring and developing themes are not fully resolved until the end of little Gidding. On the other hand, the five individual parts that go to make up each Quartet are not self-contained, and cannot properly be read in isolation. (Such readings fail especially to make sense of the Part IV lyrics. ) 2. The poetry is meditative lyric, or lyric meditation, rather than personal confession or philosophic statement. The poet's voice often speaks generically. The whole cycle - like each Quartet itself - begins with individual perception or experience and, through meditation upon it, broadens into universal statement at the end. The point of departure is generally some time - transcending experience; the concluding meditation generally relates the perceptions of the timeless to perceptions about the nature of art and the nature of love, both human and divine. 3. Despite occasional lapses, usually in Part II or Part III, assertions of large scale failure (in The Dry Salvages especially) are not justified by close scrutiny of the poetic texture. Analysis of structural, tonal, metrical and syntactic features vindicates even the alleged prosaically flat passages. 4. The poetry works largely with traditional imagery, plain diction, orthodox syntax and pervasive four-stress rhythm. There are several departures from all these, yet a rjght reading will see them as deliberate variations, for specific purposes, on the given norms. The general aim of the thesis is to demonstrate that the poems are less difficult in thought and peculiar in method than has often been supposed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1989.

This thesis explores ways in which T. S. Eliot, when he wrote his most autobiographical poetic work<em> Four Quartets</em>, might have been influenced by Thoreaus famously autobiographical prose work <em>Walden</em>, written nearly a century earlier<em>.</em> Much evidence suggests that Eliot knew of the earlier writer and his work. Not only did Eliot assign <em>Walden</em> as suggested reading in a course he taught, but as time went on Eliot also admitted that he was influenced by the New England literary tradition. Reading <em>Four Quartets</em> in light of <em>Walden</em> and its context not only helps a reader understand the connections between the two works, it also gives a reader a better understanding of <em>Four Quartets</em>' fundamental meanings. Although Eliot in <em>Four Quartets</em> adds another layer of his spiritual goals beyond those expressed in <em>Walden</em>, he expresses his religio-philosophical quest for Incarnational "still point[s] of the turning world" (<em>Burnt Norton</em> 62) using autobiographical aspects and poetic tropes that are in many ways strikingly similar to the expressions also present in <em>Walden</em>. </p> <p>The chapters of this thesis unfold these concepts. My Introduction highlights some of the key connections. Chapter One sets the stage for the discussion of the Incarnation by explaining how <em>Four Quartets</em>' spiritual round-trip journey from England to America is grounded in real world places and experiences. This chapter also explains how this guardedly autobiographical re-collection of an almost-real journey includes a response to Eliots personal history and to his literary ancestors, including Thoreau<em>.</em> In Chapter Two, I unpack the similarities and differences between many of the religio-philosophical questions asked in the two works, focusing in on Eliots and Thoreau's complex handlings of such themes as simplicity versus complexity, Incarnation, stillness versus activity, and the difficulty of achieving spiritual goals. Finally, these religio-philosophical questions are incarnated in very similar poetic devices and tropes within both works; in Chapter Three, I describe the most important of these. The "still point of the turning world" (Eliot, <em>Burnt Norton</em> 62) and the "mathematical point" (Thoreau, <em>Walden</em> 1.100) are rich metaphors that form the heart of this chapter.</p>

This thesis explores ways in which T. S. Eliot, when he wrote his most autobiographical poetic work<em> Four Quartets</em>, might have been influenced by Thoreaus famously autobiographical prose work <em>Walden</em>, written nearly a century earlier<em>.</em> Much evidence suggests that Eliot knew of the earlier writer and his work. Not only did Eliot assign <em>Walden</em> as suggested reading in a course he taught, but as time went on Eliot also admitted that he was influenced by the New England literary tradition. Reading <em>Four Quartets</em> in light of <em>Walden</em> and its context not only helps a reader understand the connections between the two works, it also gives a reader a better understanding of <em>Four Quartets</em>' fundamental meanings. Although Eliot in <em>Four Quartets</em> adds another layer of his spiritual goals beyond those expressed in <em>Walden</em>, he expresses his religio-philosophical quest for Incarnational "still point[s] of the turning world" (<em>Burnt Norton</em> 62) using autobiographical aspects and poetic tropes that are in many ways strikingly similar to the expressions also present in <em>Walden</em>. </p> <p>The chapters of this thesis unfold these concepts. My Introduction highlights some of the key connections. Chapter One sets the stage for the discussion of the Incarnation by explaining how <em>Four Quartets</em>' spiritual round-trip journey from England to America is grounded in real world places and experiences. This chapter also explains how this guardedly autobiographical re-collection of an almost-real journey includes a response to Eliots personal history and to his literary ancestors, including Thoreau<em>.</em> In Chapter Two, I unpack the similarities and differences between many of the religio-philosophical questions asked in the two works, focusing in on Eliots and Thoreau's complex handlings of such themes as simplicity versus complexity, Incarnation, stillness versus activity, and the difficulty of achieving spiritual goals. Finally, these religio-philosophical questions are incarnated in very similar poetic devices and tropes within both works; in Chapter Three, I describe the most important of these. The "still point of the turning world" (Eliot, <em>Burnt Norton</em> 62) and the "mathematical point" (Thoreau, <em>Walden</em> 1.100) are rich metaphors that form the heart of this chapter.</p>

This study attempts to establish a connection between the moral philosophy of F. H. Bradley, particularly as expressed in his Ethical Studies and modified in the teaching of Josiah Royce, and the moral thought of Eliot's poetic writings, beginning with "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," culminating in Four Quartets, and finding a new mode of expression in the dramas. By tracing Eliot's moral thought to the nineteenth century anti-utilitarian moral controversies out of which Bradley's Ethical Studies grew, this study clarifies Eliot's position in the history of moral philosophy. For Bradley, the end of morality is not self-gratification; it is the realization of the universal will in the will of the individual. Hence the aim of moral action must be away from self-concern and toward the duties that society imposes on the individual. The Absolute, in which all individuals and societies culminate, invites us to true self-realization, while the egotistic self solicits us to physical and spiritual self-indulgence. Royce modifies Bradley's Absolute by making it a redemptive community in which the selfish actions of the past are given new meaning by heroic sacrifices in the present and future. The moral thought of Eliot's poetry and drama closely parallels this ethical system. In these works, Eliot dramatizes situations in which selfless motives are scarcely distinguishable from egotistic needs, merited suffering from heroic martyrdom. In Murder in the Cathedral, for instance, Thomas the Archbishop cannot will his martyrdom for the good of God's kingdom without also willing the gratification of his personal vanity. Four Quartets presents the same moral dilemma working itself out in Eliot's thoughts about his own life. He wonders if he has chosen his life as poet and critic as an unselfish response to duty--and hence as a path to God--or if he has chosen it out of personal vanity. In his considerations of time and eternity he comes to the conclusion that it is possible to redeem past mistakes by the present right intention.

大部份的批評家都同意時間在艾略特的《四首四童奏》中是個重覆出現的主題。在每首四重奏中都有詩篇處理時間的主題。然而，雖然時間在《四首四重奏》中是個重要的主題，卻鮮少有批評家願意下功夫有系統地研究此一主題。因比，我認為在《四首四重奏》中，時間此一主題仍有許多批判的空間。而這就是我決定要有系統地研究《四首四重奏》中時間主題的原因。 時間在《四首四重奏》中展現許多不同的面貌。如同每首四重奏所顯現的，時間可以是哲理的、神祕的、以及先驗的。因比要將時間的概念簡化為單一的意念是困難的。然而，雖然要定義時間是困難的，我仍將在論文中探討《四首四重奏》中所呈現的時間之不同面相以及追溯時間朝向永恆時刻發展的形態。在本論文，我採取全方位的觀點，俾使我能夠探索時間的多重面貌。最重要的是，我能夠證明永恆的時刻為時間的中心概念。而此一中心概念就是時間形態的基礎所在。 除了導論和結論外，我將論文分為四章，依照四首四重奏的的順序。每首四重奏都體現了一種獨特的永恆時間觀。 「焚毀諾頓」將討論玫瑰花園中深刻的時刻以及模稜兩可的時間中心。 「東科村」將探討不斷循環的時間形態。 「海難岩」將著重在時間和永恆的交叉點。 「小吉丁」將重心放在當下以及由火和玫瑰結合所帶來的永恆時刻。最後的總結是永恆的時刻是艾略特於《四首四重奏》所追求時間形態最終的目標。 / Most critics would agree that time is a recurrent theme in Four Quartets. In each quartet, we have passages which deal with the theme of time. However, in spite of the significance of time as a major theme in Four Quartets. there are none the less few critics who take pains to study the theme of time systematically. Therefore, it still leaves, I think, much room for critical re-evaluation of the importance of time as a theme in Four Quartets. And this is the reason why I decide to do research on the concept of time in Four Quartets both thematically and systematically. Times assumes multifarious guises in Four Quartets. It may be philosophical, mystical, or even transcendental, as each quartet will demonstrate. Thus, it is difficult to simplify the concept of time as a single idea. However, despite the difficulty of defining time in specific terms, I neverthless intend, in my thesis, not only to explore the various aspects of time exemplified in Four Quartets but also to trace the pattern of time as a kind of development leading toward timeless moments. The methodology I adopt in this thesis is an all-embracing perspective which is both larhe and broad enough for me to probe into the different aspects of time and, most important of all, to seek a central, unifying concept of time-the timeless moment-on which the pattern of time is based. Besides, I intend to divide the body of my thesis into four chapters, following the sequence of the four quartets. Each quartet embodies a unique version of timeless moments. “Burnt Norton”will focus on the intensified moment in the rose-garden and the ambivalent center of time-the still point. “East Coker”will focus on the pattern of time as succession of the begining and the end. “The Dry Salvages”will focus on the point of intersection of the timeless with time. “Little Gidding”will focus on the immediate present and the timeless moment which culminates in the union of the fire and the rose. And finally I will conclude with the proposition that the timeless moment is the ultimate goal Eliot would like to achieve in pursuing the pattern of time in Four Quartets.

Master of Arts / Department of English / Michael L. Donnelly / Among the body of criticism on T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, critics such as Cleo McNelly Kearns and Alireza Farahbakhsh have recently interpreted the poet’s “intolerable wrestle / With words and meanings” (EC II) in light of deconstructionist theory. Although the poetry does recognize the difficulty of speaking about spiritual experience, it does not embrace the resulting linguistic miscommunication. In fact, the poems resist such a move, identifying the spiritual danger of such miscommunication; instead, they seek to overcome these difficulties and accurately communicate spiritual experience – an aim achieved in the context of biblical prophecy. Louis Martz argues that the Quartets are, in fact, not prophetic; however, he defines prophecy in terms of its social interests, rather than in terms of the interest in the human-divine relationship that characterizes both biblical tradition and Eliot’s poetry. I want to argue that reading the Quartets in the context of biblical prophecy, filtered through mystical tradition, explains their ability to transcend linguistic difficulty and explore spiritual experience in human language. In biblical tradition, the prophets overcome linguistic difficulty through a direct encounter with God, which purifies language of error and equips them to speak of divine reality. In Eliot’s Quartets, the poetry undergoes a similar purifying experience meant to replace linguistic error with a meaningful exploration of spiritual experience. For the Quartets, linguistic purification is accomplished by means of the mystical via negativa. Appropriating images associated with the via negativa, the poetry denies language tied to direct perception of spiritual reality and adopts instead a language that conveys such experience through unfamiliar words and images. In that language, the poetry is purified of its errors and made capable of exploring the human relationship with God. A poetry identified with the Incarnation, this solution communicates in human language the reality of spiritual experience. In this communication, the poetry at last explores spiritual experience in a way freed of miscommunication and meaningful for the audience, thereby fulfilling its prophetic aims.

國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班 碩士論文摘要 論文名稱： 詩中音樂: 艾略特《四首四重奏》中的音樂形式 指導教授： 楊麗敏 研究生：蔡文傑 論文提要內容： 許多批評家曾試著從各種角度解釋《四首四重奏》這個標題。 因為正如艾略特所宣示的，《四重奏》這個字(詞)是了解這部作品的正確途徑。 本文則試著從音樂的角度切入這部作品。 因為貝多芬的音樂在艾略特一生佔有舉足輕重的影響。艾略特也曾在多處提及深受貝多芬的A小調弦樂四重奏感動。另一方面，詩與音樂更是艾略特長久一來的關注重點。他相信，詩與音樂能達到某種程度的交流與可能性。正如他在《詩的音樂》一文中所宣示的。他認為詩與音樂的可能性主要包括在三方面。分別為韻律與結構，主題的重複，以及主題材料的對位式安排。因此，本文主要從音樂性的結構（音樂曲式），主題的發展、佈局來分析這部作品。 在結構方面正如艾略特所透露的，《四首四重奏》與貝多芬的弦樂四重奏在架構上有相似之處。在本文的分析裡，發現每一首四重奏的五個樂章分別是奏鳴曲式、二部曲式、三部曲式、進行曲式和迴旋曲式。主題方面，每首《四重奏》如貝多芬的弦樂四重奏一樣主要處理了對立主題的不斷發展、變化到解決。另外，如貝多芬的晚期四重奏裡的複音特性，《四首四重奏》裡也展現了多主題的同時進行。本文將分為四個章節討論，針對這三個層面分析。由主題的發展著手，找出主題之間的互動以及音樂性的架構。 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………iii Chinese Abstract……………………………………………………………………v English Abstract……………………………………………………………………vi Introduction…………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 1. "Burnt Norton"- The Still Point and the Turning World………………...19 2. "East Coker"- The Beginning and the End……………………………...34 3. "The Dry Salvages"- Time and the Timeless……………………………52 4. "Little Gidding"-Now and England…………….……………………….70 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………87 Selected Bibliography……………………………………….……………………..93 Chinese Reference…………………………………………..……………………100 / English Abstract Critics try to decipher the title Four Quartets from different criteria because the word 'quartet' is the right tack for understanding the work. This thesis tries to examine Four Quartets from a musical criterion since Beethoven's music plays an important role in T. S. Eliot's life. Besides, T. S. Eliot mentions that he is deeply touched by Beethoven's string quartet in A minor. Most important of all, music remains T. S. Eliot's main concern throughout his life. He believes that to some extent there are possibilities of transformation between music and poetry as he declares in his "The Music of Poetry." He thinks that the possibilities exist in three ways. They are the sense of rhythm and structure, the recurrent use of themes and the contrapuntal arrangement of subject matter. Therefore, this thesis applies musical structures to analyze the development of themes in Four Quartets. Structurally, Four Quartets and Beethoven's string quartet have similar structures or forms. In this thesis, it is found that the five movements of each quartet are in sonata form, (rounded) binary form, ternary form, march, and rondo form. Thematically, like Beethoven's string quartet, each quartet of Four Quartets mainly deals with the constant development, variation and reconciliation of contrasting themes. Besides, the characteristics of polyphony in Beethoven's late string quartets may be found in the juxtaposition of multiple themes in Four Quartets. This thesis is divided into four chapters. In each chapter, each quartet is analyzed from these three aspects. The thesis focuses on the development of themes in order to find out the interaction of themes and the musical structures in Four Quartets.

M.A. (English) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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