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Prior to T.S. Eliot's poetry reading at the King's Chapel Parish House in May 1955, the church's Senior Warden described Eliot as "perhaps the most widely known poetry of the present day." Notably, this was not Modernist poet T.S. Eliot's only visit to King's Chapel throughout his literary career.
As a poet and writer, Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888 - 1965) is regarded as a leader in the Modernist movement and is highly regarded for famous works including "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and The Wasteland. His works include poetry, prose, and drama. He colleagues of other notable Modernist writers including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Ezra Pound, and William Butler Yeats. In 1948, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Eliot is recognized as an English poet, but was American-born. While he grew up in the Midwest, both his parents hailed from Boston. He moved to England in 1914 at age 26 and eventually became a British citizen. His Boston ties ran deep, however. He attended school just outside of Boston as a young teenager in Milton, Massachusetts and then attended Harvard University in Cambridge.
He became close friends with King's Chapel minister Rev. John Carroll Perkins and his wife Edith Perkins, who were the aunt and uncle of one of his first loves, Emily Hale. While the romantic relationship ended, he retained close ties with the Perkins family. According to Professor Ronald Schuchard of Emory University, Eliot referenced Edith Perkins in his prose and spent time at the Perkins' summer cottage alongside their niece.
Resulting from this cordial relationship, T.S. Eliot visited and spoke at King's Chapel several times over the years. His earliest known visit to the church was in December 1932, when he lectured to the King's Chapel Women's Alliance on "The Bible as Scripture and as Literature." He returned for another lecture in May 1933 and again many years later in the 1950s.
T.S. Eliot's final visit to King's Chapel on May 26, 1955 still has a lasting legacy at the Parish House. Shortly after King's Chapel purchased 63 Beacon Street as their new Parish House. As a fundraiser to begin making over the large garden behind the building, King's Chapel hosted T.S. Eliot for a poetry reading. The fundraiser was a success, and there was even a sizeable waitlist for tickets.
As a poet and writer, Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888 - 1965) is regarded as a leader in the Modernist movement and is highly regarded for famous works including "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and The Wasteland. His works include poetry, prose, and drama. He colleagues of other notable Modernist writers including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Ezra Pound, and William Butler Yeats. In 1948, Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Eliot is recognized as an English poet, but was American-born. While he grew up in the Midwest, both his parents hailed from Boston. He moved to England in 1914 at age 26 and eventually became a British citizen. His Boston ties ran deep, however. He attended school just outside of Boston as a young teenager in Milton, Massachusetts and then attended Harvard University in Cambridge.
He became close friends with King's Chapel minister Rev. John Carroll Perkins and his wife Edith Perkins, who were the aunt and uncle of one of his first loves, Emily Hale. While the romantic relationship ended, he retained close ties with the Perkins family. According to Professor Ronald Schuchard of Emory University, Eliot referenced Edith Perkins in his prose and spent time at the Perkins' summer cottage alongside their niece.
Resulting from this cordial relationship, T.S. Eliot visited and spoke at King's Chapel several times over the years. His earliest known visit to the church was in December 1932, when he lectured to the King's Chapel Women's Alliance on "The Bible as Scripture and as Literature." He returned for another lecture in May 1933 and again many years later in the 1950s.
T.S. Eliot's final visit to King's Chapel on May 26, 1955 still has a lasting legacy at the Parish House. Shortly after King's Chapel purchased 63 Beacon Street as their new Parish House. As a fundraiser to begin making over the large garden behind the building, King's Chapel hosted T.S. Eliot for a poetry reading. The fundraiser was a success, and there was even a sizeable waitlist for tickets.
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