Level of Education of Students Involved

Undergraduate

Faculty Sponsor

Edward Upton

College

Christ College

Discipline(s)

Literature, Poetry, Theology

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-25-2024

Abstract

In the final poem of Four Quartets, Little Gidding, T.S. Eliot seeks to invite his readers into a pursuit of meaning analogous to his own. Little Gidding demonstrates a search undertaken partially through the writings of medieval Christian mystic Julian of Norwich. In T. S. Eliot: An Imperfect Life, Lyndall Gordon notes Eliot’s belief in poetic form as a conveyor of meaning (390) and suggests that Julian contributed the “transcendent calm”(391) present in Little Gidding. Eliot values poetic structure and Julian’s tone, but these in isolation do not fully capture the mystic’s influence on Little Gidding. In Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich presents the spiritual journey as one beginning with a divine Call from God. This call elicits trust and love, which expand as one prays and eventually experiences divine revelations. The journey concludes with perfected Love found in God. Writing prior to secular modernity, Julian’s audience already desires this perfect Love and writes to intensify that desire. T.S. Eliot, living in war-torn, post-Enlightenment England, writes to a society which values rationality and sees no perfect Love in the midst of violence and fragmentation. Eliot recognizes that without an intellectual entry, his readers will never be moved to greater desire, prayer, or perfect Love. Therefore, Julian’s text contributes more than tone; Eliot merges her description of the approach to God with a profound intellectual analysis of modern alienation. His poetry thus unites thought and feeling to provoke spiritual desire within a modern secular audience.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Quinlan Scott is a junior Integrated Business and Engineering Major and Christ College scholar. She became interested in questions of mysticism and spiritual journeys while reading T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets and has been fascinated ever since. In this paper, she explores T.S. Eliot’s experience with Christian mysticism, particularly his poetic interaction with Dame Julian of Norwich, a 14th century anchoress. Such explorations have proven to be life-changing.

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