Fiva Savković

The Poet as Interpreter of the Scripture: Biblical Allusions in T. S. Eliot’s Poetry

pages: 579-600

Abstract

What’s being analyzed in this essay is the recontextualization of the Scriptures in T. S. Eliot’s poetry in light of his aesthetic and spiritual ideals. Biblical allusions in Eliot’s poetry are understood as a way of interpreting and actualizing the biblical texts within the poetic dialogue of the 20th century. I focus here on the “The Waste Land” as the climax of the poet’s searching for personal and social integrity in which the Bible represents one of the many voices coming from the spiritual heritage. I conclude that the biblical contents alluded to by Eliot in this poem which interact with modern poetic production, stress furthermore the sterility of the modern society. In later religious poems, the poet’s approach to the Scriptures gradually changes in accordance with the new religious experiences and poetic concerns.

UDC:

821.111.09-1 Елиот Т. С

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