In this study, first published in 1983, Professor Smith makes the argument that although The Waste Land is analogous in form to a musical composition that it is actually made of its literary echoes. He calls these a ‘music of allusions’ and shows the resemblance of this music in its evocativeness to the technique of Mallarmé and the French symbolists. Smith also comments extensively on Eliot’s critical theories as they bear on The Waste Land and traces the development of Eliot’s allusive and transformational poetic form from its genesis in early work. This title will be of interest to students of literature.
Preface; 1. Eliot’s World before The Waste Land 2. The Chemistry of Poetry: Eliot’s Aesthetic 3. The Waste Land in the Making 4. The Poetic Means: Eliot and his Sources 5. The Lengthened Shadow of a Man: The Waste Land since 1922; Bibliography; Index
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