Yay. The joys of The Wasteland by Mr. T.S. "I am the only one who understands my poetry" Eliot.
sigh.
Fortunately, he carries the beauty of his writing style over into his work, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, which is an amazingly accessible, amazingly cool set of poems. One of my favorite the Song of the Jellicles is the neatest example of a happy poem I know.
I also like "Macavity: The Mystery Cat", which is a great example of using meter to one's advantage. It's almost iambic pantameter, but Eliot throws in enough mixups to keep the poem from getting old.
It's almost as if Eliot is using a knowledge of music to construct something with the complexity of a musical piece. I like this idea. The Macavity poem has much of the feel of a march.
The poems are a masterpiece; they combine a thorough understanding of meter with a thorough understanding of cats. The flow of the poems combines with the content of the poems to create a cohesive theme.
The Wasteland
Fortunately, it sounds good, because it's not even worth trying to waste time reading the footnotes. Because it's Eilot's personal poem. It seems lke it was written for him personally, so why should I bother to read it? *sigh*
Journey of the Magi
Much bettter, much more accessible. He has written it with plenty of allusion, but he manages to make it accessible to anyone. He still has his skill with meter and with forming words, but he makes a poem that one can identify with, one than anyone could understand.