How did T.S. Eliot help revive interest in John Donne’s poetry in the 20th century?

T.S. Eliot played a pivotal role in reviving interest in John Donne and the Metaphysical poets through his influential 1921 essay, "The Metaphysical Poets."12

In this work, written as a review of H.J.C. Grierson’s anthology, Eliot championed Donne’s ability to achieve a "fusion of thought and feeling"—a quality he argued was lost in later poetry due to a "dissociation of sensibility." By praising the intellectual ingenuity and emotional complexity of Donne’s work, Eliot defended him against earlier critics like John Dryden and Samuel Johnson, who had dismissed the poets as overly affected or eccentric.12

Eliot’s advocacy transformed Donne into a model for Modernist poetry, which sought to reflect the complexity of contemporary civilization. Consequently, Donne’s dramatic realism and his ability to blend witty argument with passion made him an idol among 20th-century poets and critics, cementing a remarkable revival of his reputation.13