Four Quartets for Lent

At the Still Point: Lenten reflections on T. S. Eliot's poems

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Day: March 7, 2018

Eliot in the bardo

March 7, 2018March 7, 2018 / jeffreyvamos / Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, I preached a sermon about Four Quartets in which I made the point that Eliot is writing about an experience that is impossible to write about (thank you Anita) with the shabby equipment of words. But in attempting to write about that experience, he's trying to evoke that very same experience in the … Continue reading Eliot in the bardo

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About this project

Five writers (meet them under The Bloggers tab) will share reflections on this inspiring and illusive poem in light of the Lenten season. The series lasts four weeks, one week each at Burnt Norton, East Coker, the Dry Salvages, and Little Gidding; five bloggers taking on the movements at each location. We hope that our writing will give you a place or two from which to explore your own encounters with the incarnate God.

A word about accessing the poem:  It is under copyright until 2039 or thereabouts, but it is available on-line. Just google “Four Quartets” or the quartet movement of the day. However, it is lovely to have your own copy so that you can make notes, question marks, argue with Eliot, etc.

The poem for those who haven’t been there yet:   Perhaps the best way to begin is to read Four Quartets all the way through out loud. It will take a little less than an hour.

You won’t understand it in the usual way.  The poem is not a singular argument or narrative with a discernible arc or an extended metaphor. It is, unsurprisingly, like music. Themes begin, they are countered. Other themes and variations start and stop. It has a totality about it, but it is best to begin by simply listening, following, moment to moment, movement by movement.

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