Old Possum’s Poetics Cover Image

Old Possum’s Poetics
Old Possum’s Poetics

Author(s): Alice Bailey Cheylan
Subject(s): British Literature
Published by: Editura Universitaria Craiova
Keywords: T.S. Eliot; Old Possum’s Book of Cats; The Waste Land; Modernist;

Summary/Abstract: T.S. Eliot’s collection of poems entitled Old Possum’s Book of Cats has been described as whimsical, delightful, light and playful. First published in 1939, the poems where originally written for Eliot’s godchildren and never intended to be considered as serious work. Yet fifty years after Eliot’s death, his Book of Cats has been transformed into a hit musical appreciated by all ages and all nationalities, while his more erudite work such as The Waste Land and Four Quartets is esteemed and comprehended by a much smaller group.This short paper proposes to study the evolution of the importance of The Book of Cats.Eliot’s personifications of cats are not only fanciful and charming; they are also far-sightedand very representative of his own poetics.

  • Issue Year: 1/2017
  • Issue No: XVIII
  • Page Range: 44-51
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: English