T.S. Eliot

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Mentioned as a poem by T.S. Eliot that begins with a quotation from Heart of Darkness: 'Mistah Kurtz—he dead.' Cited as evidence of Conrad's enormous literary influence and the quotability of Heart of Darkness.

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Discussed as Eliot's great poem, for which he originally wanted the 'the horror, the horror' passage from Heart of Darkness as its epigraph. The hosts note The Waste Land is a poem about the First World War and the darkness revealed within European civilisation, connecting it thematically to Conrad's prophetic vision.

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Referenced when discussing how T.S. Eliot visited Buckingham Palace and read The Waste Land to the royal family, who all got the giggles during the reading

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Referenced in connection with the Battle of Mylae, with the hosts quoting the line 'Stetson, you who were with me in the ships at Mylae' and discussing why Eliot may have chosen this particular battle as a reference to mass slaughter.

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Described as 'probably the single most influential poem written in English of the 20th century' and discussed in relation to the Holy Grail mythology and Jesse Weston's influence on it.

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Mentioned as one of the landmark works of 1922 modernism alongside Ulysses. The hosts quote 'these fragments I shored against my ruin' as emblematic of the post-WWI sense that civilization had shattered and all one could do was make collages from the pieces. Discussed as part of the 'great man as artist' paradigm that has since faded.

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Discussed as the other landmark literary work of 1922, described as 'the greatest poem in English written in the 20th century,' published in October in The Criterion magazine

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Referenced while walking through the City of London, in connection with the hosts' upcoming episode on 1922 as the year modernity was born. They cite Eliot's 'terrifying description' of people crossing London Bridge — 'I had not thought death had undone so many' — drawing a parallel between Eliot's vision of modern London and the atmosphere of the financial district they are walking through.

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Specifically quoted passage about a ghostly figure during an air raid, compared to Tolkien's description of the Nazgul attack and the horns of Rohan

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Discussed in connection with Little Gidding, comparing Eliot's imagery of air raids and the blowing of horns to similar imagery in Lord of the Rings

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Tom quotes from 'Little Gidding,' which he identifies as 'the last of the four quartets' by T.S. Eliot, in the introduction discussing churches and history