The narrative explores Edward Thomas's transformation from a passionate lover of the English countryside to a poignant war poet during his last five years. It delves into his experiences and emotions as he grapples with the impending conflict in France, ultimately leading to his tragic death. Through this journey, the book captures the essence of his artistry and the profound impact of war on his life and work.
Eliot's celebrated poem The Waste Land on its centenary. 'A rattling good
story' Sunday Telegraph'A work of art' Times Literary SupplementThe Waste Land
has been called the 'World's Greatest Poem'.
Frost returned to the safety of New England while Thomas stayed to fight for
the Old. It is these roads taken - and those not taken - that are at the heart
of this remarkable book, which culminates in Thomas's tragic death on Easter
Monday 1917.
The Waste Land has been called the 'World's Greatest Poem'. It is said to describe the moral decay of a world after war, to find meaning in a meaningless era. It has been labelled the most truthful poem of its time; it has been branded a masterful fake. A century after its publication in 1922, T. S. Eliot's enigmatic masterpiece remains one of the most influential works ever written, and yet one of the most mysterious. In a remarkable feat of biography, Matthew Hollis reconstructs the intellectual creation of the poem and brings the material reality of its charged times vividly to life. Presenting a mosaic of historical fragments, diaries, dynamic literary criticism and illuminating new research, he reveals the cultural and personal trauma that forged The Waste Land through the lives of its protagonists - of Ezra Pound, who edited it; of Vivien Eliot, who sustained it; and of T. S. Eliot himself, whose private torment is woven into the seams of the work. The result is an unforgettable story of lives passing in opposing directions and the astounding literary legacy they would leave behind.
As well as representing many of the most important poets of the last 100 years, Strong Words charts many different stances and movements, from modernism to postmodernism, from futurism to the future theories of poetry
Combining worldly wisdom with detailed understanding to produce poems that
speak with a sense of purpose ond place, the poet writes a knowing, lyrical
poetry set against a landscape of big skies and battened-downed horizons.
In this long awaited second collection, Matthew Hollis evokes the landscape,
language and ecology of the isles of Britain and Ireland to explore how our
most intimate moments have resonance in the wider cycle of life. What emerges
is a moving meditation on time and the transformative phases of nature.
