The Enduring Relevance of T.S. Eliot's Poetry Anonymous 12th Grade

In a radical attempt to forge a new poetic medium, the poetry of TS Eliot possesses an enduring appeal due to its ability to lament universal concerns of the modern era while also subverting conventional literary content and structure. The poems ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1915) and ‘Journey of the Magi’ (1927) showcase Eliot’s skills in thematic subversion and structural fragmentation to explore the immorality and purposelessness that mar modern existence. Adopting a nihilistic approach to memory instead of the nostalgia preferred in the Romantic tradition, structural fragmentation in ‘Rhapsody’ highlights the emptiness of the urban lifestyle. Likewise as he undermines the joy of the Nativity scene in ‘Journey of the Magi’, Eliot intensifies his treatment of these concepts with fragmentary imagery. Thus by simultaneously raising universal concerns and challenging literary tradition, Eliot’s oeuvre endures as a portrait of immorality and futility in the modern age.

The innate immorality of modern society renders traditional sources of solace, such as memory and spirituality, obsolete as forces for social change. Foregoing the escapist methods of the Romantics, wherein memory was sought as a refuge from a harsh industrial...