Many times our reading of a particular poem by T. S. Eliot may be deepened by understanding the metaphoric images of cited mythological or literary works, by exploring its relation to the poem we are ready to read. Usually the meaning of mythological or literary works quoted in his poem is invaluable or crucial to understand the whole image of the poem, because it suggests the key to comprehend the particular poem as a whole. T. S. Eliot stated in his essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent” that no poet, or no artist of any art has his complete meaning alone. His significance is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists. In the structure of Eliot's poems we should be aware of the combination of the heterogeneous elements; the past and present, which makes sometimes readers puzzed at first sight but soon wide awaked. It is required that when poetry calls for knowledge, even a common reader must be prepared to answer the demand which Eliot has made use of combining techniques mixing radical elements of the past and present in his poetry. Such a combinative manner has been long acclaimed for a new and startling technique since his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” was published. This paper is designed to explain some of his poetical techniques, particularly showing some examples of complicated, ambiguous, contradictory expressions and making frequent use of ancient myths, classic literature and folklores. The difficulty which faces the reader immediately lies in his frequent use of distorted quotations and allusions, his reference to many languages and literatures. It is partly due to his careful investigation on mysticism such as Christian Mysticism(1899), The Varieties of Religious Experience(1902) and Mysticism (1911). It is not surprising that Eliot has been blamed for obscurity and pretentiousness. This is the result of being judged by readers who have not attempted to analyse his technique to unite the elements of past and present. Eliot said that difficulty reading modern poems would not be something peculiar to certain writers, but a condition of writing with deeper insights into classical literature.

• 박현수(세종대) | Hyun-Soo Park