The Incarnation of Anxiety in the Early Poetry of T. S. Eliot

Through a careful examination of T.S. Eliot’s early poetry (written between 1910 and 1917), this paper examines whether or not anxiety is necessary or particularly useful for the production of poetry in the contemporary world. Eliot's early poetry expresses his just-discovered conviction that the bourgeoisie's life is not what it seems to be. The subjectivity of experience and the slave labor of material commodities do not, nevertheless, always imply the irreconcilable character of the human spirit. There are, however, faint traces of optimism. The expression of worry in Eliot's poem demonstrates his urgent need to address it both inside himself and in this troubled, war-ravaged period, illuminating his fixation with the social and spiritual deterioration of society.