{"id":30103,"date":"2026-10-30T00:15:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T23:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=30103"},"modified":"2026-10-30T00:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T23:15:48","slug":"7-marlow-buckinghamshire-a-literary-place-2-ts-eliot","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=30103","title":{"rendered":"7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: a Literary Place 2 TS Eliot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: A Literary Place <\/strong>Part 2<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

TS Eliot<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the second of our two articles focusing on Marlow\u2019s literary alumni, we look at the life and works of TS Eliot, who moved to Marlow with his new wife while teaching at High Wycombe\u2019s Royal Grammar School.<\/p>\n

TS Eliot 1888-1865<\/strong><\/p>\n

TS Eliot\u2019s \u2018The Waste Land\u2019, bewildered and shocked in 1922 but radicalised poetry. \u00a0It\u2019s famous opening line \u2018April is the cruellest month\u2019 startled almost as much as that of his earlier poem \u2018The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock\u2019 where he describes the sky as \u2018like a patient etherised upon a table.\u2019\u00a0 \u00a0Identified as a representation of the disintegration of society after WW1, Eliot\u2019s later comments suggested it was as much about the disintegration of his marriage, but \u2018The Waste Land\u2019 stands as a giant in modern literature, offering a bewildering series of perspectives.<\/p>\n

After the initial shock and scandal, by 1948 Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature \u2018for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry\u2019.<\/p>\n

The pioneering poet, Thomas Stearns Eliot, was born in 1888 in St Louis, Missouri to a wealthy intellectual family.\u00a0 Physically frail, he read hugely and started writing poetry at 14.\u00a0 After a PhD at Harvard, he studied philosophy at the Sorbonne from 1910-11, encountering the \u2013 for him – profoundly influential symbolist movement.\u00a0 After further studies in Indian philosophy and Sanskrit, Eliot left America in 1914 to study in Germany but the outbreak of War led to him taking up a scholarship at Merton College, Oxford.<\/p>\n

1915 was a significant year.\u00a0 Disenchanted with Oxford, Eliot moved to London, met Vivienne Haigh-Wood and married her two months later.\u00a0 This despite having just declared his love for a long-time friend in America, Emily Hale.<\/p>\n

Eliot took various teaching jobs, including one term at The Royal Grammar School High Wycombe, which brought him to Marlow with his wife.\u00a0 He also wrote \u2018The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock\u2019, which Ezra Pound saw published bringing Eliot to the attention of the literary world, with responded with shock.<\/p>\n

\"\" The Marlow House<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eliot and Vivienne lived in Marlow at 31 West Street.\u00a0 The three-storey terraced property known as the Old Post Office, had been one of several in Marlow.\u00a0 Although its age is unclear, its fa\u00e7ade is similar to several close by that were re-fronted in a classical style in the 18th century.\u00a0 There are decorative vertical red brick columns and paler brick around the arched windows.\u00a0 The building now sports a plaque identifying it as TS Eliot\u2019s home.\u00a0 During his time there, he wrote \u2018Gerontion\u2019 and early sections of \u2018The Waste Land\u2019.\u00a0 The building is now part of The Vanilla Pod, a bijou restaurant with an excellent menu.<\/p>\n

After one term teaching French, Latin, maths, drawing, swimming, geography and history, Eliot took a post at Highgate Junior School.\u00a0 In addition, he taught a three-year university-level course for Birkbeck College London which was accessible to adults of all social classes.\u00a0 In 1919 he accepted a position in the Colonial and Foreign department of Lloyds Bank.\u00a0 To his fluent French and German, he added a working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian.<\/p>\n

In 1925 Eliot took up a position at publisher Faber and Faber, staying there for 40 years and publishing the work of many great 20th century poets and writers.\u00a0 His reputation as intellectual was sealed by his poetry, literary criticism, and plays.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Vivienne\u2019s poor health quickly took a toll on their marriage.\u00a0 Her physical and mental decline led to their separation in 1933.\u00a0 She died in a home in 1947.\u00a0 For nearly 20 years, his public companion was Mary Trevelyan, of London University.\u00a0 At 68, Eliot married his 30-year-old secretary of some 8 years.<\/p>\n

Eliot took British citizenship in 1927.\u00a0 His lighter poems about cats were posthumously transformed by Andrew Lloyd-Webber into the multi-award-winning musical \u2018Cats\u2019 in 1981.<\/p>\n

Key works<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>Poetry: \u2018Prufrock\u2019, \u2018The Waste Land\u2019 1922, \u2018Ash Wednesday\u2019 1930, \u2018The Four Quartets\u2019 1936-42, \u2018Old Possum\u2019s Book of Practical Cats\u2019 1939<\/p>\n

Plays (written in verse): \u2018Murder in the Cathedral\u2019 1935, \u2018The Family Reunion\u2019 1939, \u2018The Cocktail Party\u2019 1949<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9www.PropertySurveying.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: A Literary Place Part 2 TS Eliot In the second of our two articles focusing on Marlow\u2019s literary alumni, we look at the life and works of TS Eliot, who moved to Marlow with his new wife while teaching at High Wycombe\u2019s Royal Grammar School. TS Eliot 1888-1865 TS Eliot\u2019s \u2018The Waste … Continue reading “7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: a Literary Place 2 TS Eliot”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-30103","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: a Literary Place 2 TS Eliot - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=30103\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: a Literary Place 2 TS Eliot - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: A Literary Place Part 2 TS Eliot In the second of our two articles focusing on Marlow\u2019s literary alumni, we look at the life and works of TS Eliot, who moved to Marlow with his new wife while teaching at High Wycombe\u2019s Royal Grammar School. TS Eliot 1888-1865 TS Eliot\u2019s \u2018The Waste … Continue reading "7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: a Literary Place 2 TS Eliot"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=30103\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PropertySurveying\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/marlow-houses-skyline.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=30103\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/?page_id=30103\",\"name\":\"7 Marlow, Buckinghamshire: a Literary Place 2 TS Eliot - 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