TS Eliot's poem ‘The Waste Land' might have given him international stardom. However, after one year, year after it was published he was broke, and on the verge of a breakdown. His personal life had turned into a nightmare despite winning accolades for his literary work.
A series of newly published letters have revealed the barren condition of T.S.Eliot. He was forced to work for Lloyds bank by day and edit Criterion, a quarterly magazine, by night. The work and the worry have taken 10 years off my life.
On March 12, 1923, he wrote: "I am now in the midst of a terrific crisis. I wish to heaven that I had never taken up the Criterion. It has been a great expense to me. I have not got a penny out of it."
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I am ashamed to have sent you such badly written articles. |
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The workload, and worry about money had shaken his confidence in writing. Eliot refused to give up his bank job and wrote on April 26, 1923: "The bank is a secure job for life, with a pension at 60, a year's salary and a pension for my wife in the event of my death."
On December 31, 1923, he said: "I am ashamed to have sent you such badly written articles. I must stop writing and read and think for a long time before recommencing."
Tags: ts eliot, the waste land, personal life, literary work, lloyds bank, criterion, workload, bank job, pension.
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