What influenced T.S. Eliot?

Answer 1

"Ezra Pound would be an important and pivotal person in Eliot's life. When Eliot arrived in London, Eliot was still not sure if his heart was in academics or poetry. Pound's role was pivotal to Eliot not only because he helped organize and edit Eliot's famous poem "The Waste Land," but he also "encouraged Eliot in his choice of career, country to live in, and wife to marry" (Sharpe 46). The meeting of these two literary figures was arranged through a friend of Eliot's (Sharpe 44). Eliot knew the importance of finding an outlet for his art and Eliot knew Pound was a good source for contacts and knowledge of London's literary scene. Eliot was sure that Pound and London would give him the best chance in allowing him to do what he wanted to do (Sharpe 44). On September 22, 1914 Eliot arrived on Pound's doorstep (Sharpe 44). Poems were given to Pound. Pound's response was instant and positive. In a letter to a friend, Pound wrote of Eliot's writing talents, "He has sent in the best poem I have yet had or seen from an American. PRAY GOD IT BE NOT A SINGLE AND UNIQUE SUCCESS" (Sharpe 44). A second person who would become influential in Eliot's life at this time was Bertrand Russell, a famous philosopher, who was a teacher of Eliot at Harvard. When Eliot came to Oxford, Russell bumped into him on the street and was surprised to see one of his former students (Sharpe 49). Like Pound, Russell quickly introduced Eliot to his intellectual circles; however, Russell's circles were not the same in which Pound was traveling in. Russell expanded Eliot's base of support and gave him access to people not known to Pound (Sharpe 55). The important role of Russell in Eliot's life during this time was offering financial help when the poet needed it the most. For a while Eliot and his new wife lived with Russell, whose help Eliot could not have been a poet without (Bush 54). The third influential person to enter Eliot's life during this time was Vivien Haigh-Wood (Bush 53). In 1915 Eliot got married to her with the encouragement of Pound (Sharpe 49). At the beginning of 1915, it is believed that Eliot was still a virgin at the age of twenty seven (Sharpe 50). It is believed that the "unorthodox" Vivien possibly offered Eliot a "sense of passion" and feelings in a time when he was feeling extreme dissatisfaction (Sharpe 50). Bertrand Russell, who provided the couple housing during this period, described Vivien as showing "[. . . ]impulses of [. . .] a Dostojevsky type of cruelty"-she "lives on a knife edge and will end as a criminal or a saint" (Bush 54). Intense passions provided by Vivien and feeling dissatisfaction with the world is believed to inspire many of the contradictions in his poetry, most notably in the "Waste Land." There was hardly a time in their marriage when Vivien was not a problem in Eliot's life (Bush 53)." Source; Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 7: T. S. Eliot." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. URL:http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap7/eliot.html