Leave it to the poets
Sir: T.S. Eliot has had by far the greatest influence of any poet writing in English this century, and is easily the most memorable (Books, 7 September). Publication of juve- nilia, half-baked accusations of 'plagiarism' (based on a handful of words) and self-righ- teous outrage at his extremely well-known views won't alter this. He has survived because, far from being second-rate, his poetic talent was extraordinary and because he wrote about something no poet of com- parable ability could'be bothered to chroni- cle — the horror behind the everyday. Despite Eliot's incessant literary name- dropping, this gives to his work a universal and timeless quality lacking in much sup- posedly 'accessible' poetry.
Still, good luck to those 21st-century pio- neers as their 'words come to them unbid- den' (except of course as bidden according to Bevis Hillier's prescription). But perhaps it might be better for poets to write howev- er they want to write, quoting whoever they want to quote, and then leave the rest to history.
Paul Sutton
24 Duke Street, Botley, Oxford
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