T.S. Eliotâs 1921 essay âThe Metaphysical Poetsâ serves as a manifesto of what he believed 20th-century poetry should be and as a guide to his own creative aspirations. In the essay Eliot uses the example of the Metaphysical poets of the 17th century to advocate for poetry that is complex and difficult. He believed modern poetry should reflect the complexity and variety of contemporary civilization. Much of what he expressed in the essay came to fruition in The Waste Land, a long poem that Eliot published the year following âThe Metaphysical Poets.â The Waste Land is regarded as a Modernist masterpiece.
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