Late in his life T. S. Eliot, when asked if his poetry belonged
in the tradition of American literature, replied: "I'd say that my
poetry has obviously more in common with my distinguished
contemporaries in America than with anything written in my
generation in England. That I'm sure of. . . . In its sources, in
its emotional springs, it comes from America." In T. S. Eliot: The
Making of an American Poet, James Miller offers the first sustained
account of Eliot's early years, showing that the emotional springs
of his poetry did indeed come from America.
Miller challenges long-held assumptions about Eliot's poetry and
his life. Eliot himself always maintained that his poems were not
based on personal experience, and thus should not be read as
personal poems. But Miller convincingly combines a reading of the
early work with careful analysis of surviving early correspondence,
accounts from Eliot's friends and acquaintances, and new
scholarship that delves into Eliot's Harvard years. Ultimately,
Miller demonstrates that Eliot's poetry is filled with reflections
of his personal experiences: his relationships with family,
friends, and wives; his sexuality; his intellectual and social
development; his influences.
Publication of T. S. Eliot: The Making of an American Poet marks
a milestone in Eliot scholarship. At last we have a balanced
portrait of the poet and the man, one that takes seriously his
American roots. In the process, we gain a fuller appreciation for
some of the best-loved poetry of the twentieth century.
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