T.S. Eliot

"Do I dare

Disturb the universe?

In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse."

–The Love Song Of Alfred J. Prufrock

T.S. ELIOT is popularly known for The Waste Land but he was bigger than this chaotic poem, bigger than all the prizes which poured on him in a rather ridiculous manner. A polymathic mind, Eliot was a playwright, a polyglot, a philosopher, an editor, a savvy critic, and a man of certain literary taste. His artistic life is proof that true poets carry Poetry within no matter the means of expression. What makes Eliot’s poetry meditative, that is genius, is the strife to master the essence of language, like mystics strive to master perception because refinement is the siege of the absolute, where pure Poetry is born and flows in abundance. 

Today and always, {R} celebrates Eliot's uneasy quest for transcendence, combat over superficiality and puerile emotion, and unfinished work. His Poetry is a reminder that genius is born in inner vision, the product of diligent work, and a blessing, not the consequence of fashion, people-pleasing or awards. 

When a journalist asked him how he felt after receiving a prize, he answered: “One does not feel any different. It isn’t that you get any bigger to fit the world, the world gets smaller to fit you.” There is something seriously flawed here, Thomas. The world was already small when you came in the first place. 

When the masters fall silent, their work becomes eternal. Happy Birthday, mon semblable, mon frère.