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Write on!

Our poem for the Christmas holidays has two lessons for all writers. It comes from T.S. Eliot.

My introduction to TSE came in college, either a survey course in modern poetry or as part of a literature survey. Professor C. Hines Edwards, dry and erudite, was one of two that I admired for his knowledge of poetry classical and structure-less.

He introduced TSE’s “The Wasteland” to us, a long poem known for its allusions. The literary device allusions has its place in writing. In a few brief words, it opens doors to additional meaning … much as Christina Rossetti’s “From Sunrise to Starshine” did, with our realization that she’s a sleeping beauty, briefly awakened, now in her thorn-guarded tower.

The allusion is the first of our two lessons, but it leads into the second, a contradictory lesson and our final one for this series.

In January, The Write Focus starts a new series called Writers on Writing, active writers who share their knowledge of tech tools, productivity, and process, with a few snippets on the craft.

Here’s Eliot’s poem, perfect for the holiday season.

TIMINGS

00:00 Welcome

00:40 Introduction

01:17 Allusions / Easter Eggs

03:11 First Lesson

04:40 Symbolic Motifs

05:17 Re-Connecting with TSE

07:45 Second Lesson: Two-Sided

10:13 “The Journey of the Magi”

16:40 Closing

Total Run Time = 17:38

#TSEliot #JourneyoftheMagi #Wasteland #HollowMen #allusion #discoverability #symbolicmotifs #motif #writingadvice

Analysis is All Original Content / No AI Used

LINKS

TSEliot bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot

“The Wasteland” https://genius.it/www.bartleby.com/201/1.html

“The Hollow Men” https://poets.org/poem/hollow-men

“Journey of the Magi” https://allpoetry.com/The-Journey-Of-The-Magi

Link to Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2024/12/549-fall-into-poetry-journey-with-ts.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Fall into Poetry. Here’s a link to the first episode: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7K1x02UAlihWKKom_5keJrg

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The Write Focus wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving week ~ full of rich holiday food, joyous time with people we love, awkward encounters with other people, and a money blast on Black Friday—which usually extends to Cyber Monday.

This episode doesn’t fit with our Fall into Poetry series ~ although it does gift you with poems stuffed with thanks—and not so stuffed. No analysis or advice to writers, just poetry.

It’s a Cornucopeia of Poems to share for Thanksgiving.

TIMINGS

00:00 Introduction

00:40 “There’s Nothing like the Sun”

2:00 “November Night”, a cinquain

2:23 “I went to thank her”

3:10 Two called “November”

4:30 “Winter”

Total Run Time = 5:37