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How did T.S. Eliot become associated with Ezra Pound?

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T.S. Eliot stands at a chalkboard, writing a diagram with letters and Greek symbols representing characters for a play, in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study. — T.S. Eliot T.S. Eliot working on his play *The Cocktail Party* in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, 1948. The letters of the alphabet in his diagram represent characters in the play. The Greek letters represent characters yet to be invented.

T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound began their close association in 1914, the same year Eliot moved to Europe to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford.1

Pound, a central figure in the Modernist movement, played a pivotal role in launching Eliot's career as a poet and critic. Their professional relationship was highly influential; notably, Pound provided essential editorial guidance on Eliot’s masterpiece, The Waste Land, helping to condense the original manuscript to nearly half its size. The poem was subsequently dedicated to Pound in recognition of his support.234