As I said about a previous course I have taught on religious poetry, this course is a pure self-indulgence. I could do this study of these great religious poems of T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden--indeed have done so--in solitude in my favorite chair by the fireplace. But why not increase the pleasure by having a conversation about them with others.
The seven poems that make up Auden’s Horae Canonicae correspond to the church’s canonical hours, the divine offices for prayer. But of course, these poems are not merely a recitation of the divine offices, sometimes also called the Book of Hours. They are, rather, and in in a very real way, Auden’s consummate poetical reflection on the nature of Christian belief and, indeed, his own faith. Something much the same may be said of Eliot’s Four Quartets. They are, in effect, his final poetry; also a summation of his belief in poetical form.
Both works are, in my mind, liturgical in character, and appropriately so. Needless to say, also, they are not uncomplicated. Much meaning is packed into the poetry; and we will be after that meaning, while, nonetheless, conscientiously staying close to Auden’s and Eliot’s own speech. The Four Quartets are almost four times the length of Horae Canonicae. So it stands to reason we will spend much of the time in a study of the former. I propose to begin with Horae Canonicae to make certain we give it its due. I believe we can do this while still having enough time to cover all four of Eliot’s poems, though we might have to cheat a little bit.
- Teacher: Vigen Guroian