The Roots That Clutch tells the haunting true-story about how a young woman discovered through her PhD research on T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound that her grandmother had had an affair with the other great American Modernist, William Carlos Williams. She also discovers that her father may be the biological child of Williams. The story is told through the experiences of the author’s persona, Jane. Written as a Bildungsroman, the novel takes place at universities and manuscript libraries in Europe and the United States over the span of 21 years. The unmistakable themes of betrayal, destiny and poetic justice are woven into the tapestry of the novel. Though as a student she is constantly the victim of academic politics and betrayals between professors, Jane is supported by a few well-connected scholars who believe her innate insight into poetry could offer vastly new perspectives in the field. Despite the never-ending struggle to continue, Jane is pushed along by an unquenchable hunch that she must not give up. As Jane slowly unravels the poetic connections between Eliot, Pound and their immediate late-nineteenth century British predecessors, she stumbles upon Eliot’s unpublished letters to Pound. Jane soon discovers that betrayal is not only an academic’s trade secret, but also a poet’s. Then, her father decides she should have a family heirloom that was her grandmother’s. It contains an inscription from Williams in it, who like Jane, had always distrusted T.S. Eliot.

Would Eve object to the presentation of her original sin in Genesis 3? Could Alexander Graham Bell possibly have foreseen the enslaving power of his great invention, the phone, over human beings today? In The Roots that Clutch, Thomas Esposito poses such questions directly by means of letters addressed to a host of deceased historical persons and literary characters. Esposito employs an eclectic blend of humor and honest curiosity in sharing insights with figures as diverse as the Greek goddess Nike, Saint Benedict, the holy city of Jerusalem, and Martin Luther King Jr. With each letter, the Cistercian monk and Catholic priest digs with the spade of his pen to unearth a dialogue on the roots or origins of realities such as sin, anger, prayer, monasticism, and his own family tree, among many others. Undergirding every letter is an invitation to discern the seeds of the Logos, the Word made flesh, planted in the soil of human thought and history. By examining these particular roots of the human condition, the author aims at cultivating fruitful meditations on the mysteries of God at work in every heart.

Discusses the writing of The waste land by T.S. Eliot. Includes critical essays on the work and a brief biography of the author.

The first volume of the first paperback edition of The Poems of T. S. Eliot This two-volume 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.” In addition to the masterpieces, The Poems of T. S. Eliot contains the poems of Eliot’s youth, which were rediscovered only decades later; poems that circulated privately during his lifetime; and love poems from his final years, written for his wife, Valerie. Calling upon Eliot’s critical writings as well as his drafts, letters, and other original materials, Christopher Ricks and Jim McCue have provided a commentary that illuminates the imaginative life of each poem. This first volume respects Eliot’s decisions by opening with his Collected Poems 1909–1962 as he arranged and issued it shortly before his death. This is followed by poems uncollected but either written for or suitable for publication, and by a new reading text of the drafts of The Waste Land. The second volume opens with the two books of verse of other kinds that Eliot issued: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and Anabasis, his translation of St.-John Perse’s Anabase. Each of these sections is accompanied by its own commentary. Finally, pertaining to the entire edition, there is a comprehensive textual history that contains not only variants from all known drafts and the many printings but also extended passages amounting to hundreds of lines of compelling verse.

This collection includes all Klein's poetry, both original works and translations from Hebrew, Yiddish, Aramaic, and Latin. Many of them, coming from all periods of his careers, have never been published.

It is for his poetry that A.M. Klein is best known and most warmly remembered. This collection includes all Klein's poetry, both original works and translations from Hebrew, Yiddish, Aramaic, and Latin. Many of them, coming from all periods of his careers, have never been published. The poems are arranged chronologically according to date of composition. This makes possible, for the first time, an appreciation of Klein's poetic development. The editor's introduction places this development in the perspective of Klein's life and time, and in particular explores Klein's lifelong struggle to reconcile his dual vocations as both a Jewish and a modernist writer. The textual apparatus identifies all authoritative versions for each poem and lists all emendations and all substative variants in both published and mauscript versions. The explanatory notes gloss obscure terms and references. They also provide a rich context for appreciation and interpretation by drawing connections with Klein's life, his wide reading, and his work as a whole. Wherever possible, Klein's own numerous, but scattered, comments on his poems have been cited.

Using a variety of approaches from the traditional to the post-modern, this volume brings together essays by 14 scholars who examine T.S.Eliot's poetry and criticism. These essays were written and edited on the occasion of Eliot's birth centenary.

Contributed articles.