Nobel laureate T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land is both a rejection of modernism and a prophetic vision of postmodernism. Encompassing a variety of styles and themes, the poem describes a society torn apart by world war and unable or unwilling to put things back the way they were. It is a masterwork of absurdity and despair.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock moves with a kind of claustrophobic lyricism through a surreal landscape littered with references to literary and cultural figures. Generally considered one of Eliot's best poems it is a sort of preface to The Waste Land.
Also in this collection are poems written after Eliot's conversion to Christianity (notably Journey of the Magi and Two Choruses).
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