- Eliot loved to play practical jokes. Apparently, some of his favorite pranks were stink bombs, exploding cigars, and whoopie cushions.
- He was never a full-time poet. He always had other, more steady jobs. He was a teacher, editor, and literary critic, to name a few.
- He limited himself to writing a maximum of three hours per day.
- Eliot became as British as he possibly could. Not only did he move there in 1915, but he also became a British citizen in 1927 and even converted to Anglicanism.
- He attempted to write fiction in French and wrote a couple poems. However, he soon abandoned the attempt and stuck with English.
- ...and last but definitely NOT least (haha): He may have coined the popular curse word, "bulls***." He wrote a poem in the early 1910s called "The Triumph of Bulls***." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was the first time a curse word appeared in print.
Source:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/86011/12-things-you-might-not-know-about-ts-eliot
2 comments:
Interesting facts you found Lainey. I have been wondering though why Eliot would move from the United States to England during the height of World War I. I did some research to learn about what his exact motivations were. I think we read that he went to go teach at Oxford University. I learned from some reading that he first intended to go to Germany to take part in a summer program, but when WWI broke out, he decided to stay in Oxford to take up that teaching position. He really was not a fan of the university life. He actually is quoted saying, "I hate university towns and university people, who are the same everywhere, with pregnant wives, sprawling children, many books and hideous pictures on the walls ... Oxford is very pretty, but I don't like to be dead." He managed to spend a lot of his time in London where he was introduced to the work of Ezra Pound who had a huge impact on his writing. It is also where he met his wife.
Thank you for sharing these fun facts! I find it particularly funny that he loved playing practical jokes on others, I definitely wouldn't have expected that due to the heavy nature of his works. It goes to show that everyone has a light side (regardless of how grim modern society seemed, he was able to fit in a few good laughs).
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