Four Quartets for Lent

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

Skip to content
  • Home
  • The Bloggers
  • Contact
Search

Day: March 8, 2018

Can We Talk About Mary?

March 8, 2018March 8, 2018 / Anita Milne / Leave a comment

Here is Mary, the Lady whose stands on the promontory above the dark throat of the sea. Finally in Dry Salvages we move from intimations of incarnation to explicit religious language: prayer, annunciation, and Mary, aka Lady enshrined on the fierce edge of the sea. Mary, figlia del tuo figlio, daughter of your son. Another time … Continue reading Can We Talk About Mary?

March 2018
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Feb    

Recent Posts

  • “Little Gidding,” Movement V: “The Fire and the Rose Are One”
  • The Unfamiliar Name: Little Gidding 4
  • History Lessons

Categories

Follow Four Quartets for Lent on WordPress.com

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.

Blog at WordPress.com.
Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×