-
Born
T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a wealthy family and parents Henry Ware and Charlotte Stearns Eliot. -
Period: to
Early Education
Eliot becomes a student at Washington University Smith Academy in St. Louis, where he learns Latin, Greek, French and German. -
Period: to
Harvard
Eliot attends Harvard University and earns a B.A. and Masters Degree. -
Sorbonne, Paris
After Eliot earns his Masters Degree from Harvard, he spends one year in Sorbonne, Paris. French poetry was later said to have taught Eliot is own voice. He stated, "The kind of poetry that I needed, to teach me the use of my own voice, did not exist in English at all; it was only found in French." -
Returning to Harvard
Returns to Harvard University as a student in philosophy. There, he researches Indic and Buddhist philosophy. Eliot ended up on probation by taking advantage of the elective system of classes. -
Ezra Pound
Eliot meets Ezra Pound in England, who influences his later works greatly and who recognizes the greatness in "Prufrock". Pound was said to be one of Eliot's most influential writers. Eliot once said, "A poet must take as his material his own language as it is actually spoken around him." Pound appreciated this style of Eliot's and allowed for it to flourish, -
Prufrock
Eliot publishes "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", which is initially met with much criticism. It is today the most well known of Eliot's poems. -
Marriage
Eliot impulsively marries Vivien Haigh-Wood, which marks the beginning of his life in England. The marriage was later very fragile and led to many conflicts, both internally and externally, in Eliot's life, -
Period: to
Published Works
The Wasteland, Ash Wednesday, For Lancelot Andrewes, etc. -
British Citizenship
Enters Church of England and assumes his British citizenship. Although Eliot spent a great deal of time and was influenced by England, he is still American by birth. -
Period: to
Lectures
Eliot's famous Harvard lectures on Poetry and Literary Criticism. -
Separation
Obtains legal separation from Vivien Eliot. -
Death of Wife
Vivien Eliot dies. -
Nobel Prize
Wins Nobel Prize for Literature. Well recognized because Eliot's poetry had been growing increasingly private. -
Remarriage
Marries Valerie Fletcher -
Death
Eliot dies on Jan 4, 1965 from emphysema. After his death, Robert Giroux stated that, "the world became a lesser place". B. Rajan wrote that "Eliot's poetry is a process of living by thought, of seeking to find satisfaction with the whole being."
