Alcala 1958

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poets but the y are gen era lly uni ver sal in Elio t. Eliot's grea test def ect lie s in the disa sso- cia tio nof thou ghts in hi s poe try . By th is I me an that he doe s not logica llyand cle arl y con ne ctone thou ght to ano the r; that is left fo r the read er to do. Un fort una tely ,Eli ot ha s place dtoo mu ch emphasison the pow er of the reader to ass oci atehi s though tswit h the judgme nt that Elio t inte nds . Eli ot has been over rate das a gre at poe t. But he is not one of the poor est poe ts of the 20 th cen tur y. Th ere is not su ffi cie nt rat ion alcla rity andcor rec t judgmen tin hi s though t to mer it the adj ect ive "g reat." Th er eis not eno ugh obs cur ityin hi s poe try to me rit "ve ry poo r." Just as the meta - ph ysi cals cannot be con sidered out side of the ir age , so Elio t can not be con sid ered apa rt from the age that form ed hi s tale nt, an ag e of con fus ionand doubt, fru stra tion and, let us hop e, hope. sal r . t i n ts . i s l l ct r; unately, laced asis te ts t i tends. t d t. y. i nt i al i and t t l10 t e tive e ity . - cals ered i e , re e ! , f ion , tion l y

renness an d dry nes sare als o ea sily unde r­ standa ble ,sin ce the y pa int the imag e of a des ert, bar ren and dr y. Elio t's use of po et ic arti stry lie s in hi s imag esan dhi s use of fre e ver se. The poem ha s litt le me tric al var iet y, writ ten in the two- stres s fre e-v ers e lin e. Th is giv es the poem the eff ec tof a cha nt, the ide a of the monot one sou nd in the vac uou s pray ers of holl owmen . It als o cont rib ute s to the soun d of ch ild ren's game s. Th e lin es are some­ times len gth ene d, e. g. , "Ga ther ed on thi s bea ch of the tum id riv er, " wh ich con tai ns fou r stre sses . Th e cri ticismmo st ofte n dire cted at Elio t is that he is com ple tel yobs cur e. It is true that ther e is in hi s poe try a gre at dea l of obscu rit y,but not as mu ch as is con tended. Th ere is cla rit yin hi ssym bols bec ause the y are sym bo lsthat can be und erst ood in rela­ tion to Eli ot and hi s bac kgr ound. Th ey are not the tra dit ion alsym bols use d by cla ssi c ble, e , . ' tic es s . l i al i ty, t ess erse . i s t t, o e s s . tributes to t e 's s. - ened, ., t ed i ," i co tains s es. ti i letely e. l rity, ded. ity ls ols o - ound. itio al ls ic

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CAM PU SGROWTH .— The spi ral ing Imm acu lata Chapel and Imm acu late He art Semina ryform an imp osi ng back drop for the $3 .5 mil lion Art s & Sc ien ce sBu ilding (fo reg roun d)now und er con structio n. TH.-The ling l ac lata l ac late ry ing p . li ce il i round) ti n. PUS

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