Eliot’s Raid on the Ineffable

Abstract

In the poem Four Quartets, T.S Eliot employs a fragmentary form to dramatize the disjointed continuity of time. Within the poem though, the fluctuation or fragmentation of the form is also in service to the whole by showing the unending exploration of man to reach the “still point” of divine contemplation. For Eliot, the fragmentary nature of the form in Four Quartets is in service to the whole, because the continual fluctuation of musicality embodies a journey or exploration for the “still point” of the world to achieve true contemplation. In that sense, Eliot’s poem is an artistic success, due to the fluctuation or fragmentary nature of the form serving the whole of the poem. The point is that the unity of the piece comes from the fluctuation of musicality that reinforces the idea of a journey across time to the “still point.