‘The Still Unspeaking and Unspoken Word’: The Language of Avoidance in T.S. Eliot’s Treatment of the Birth and Death of Christ.

Abstract

Whenever T.S. Eliot writes about the Crucifixion in his poetry, he distances it by setting it in the past or the future, or by using metaphor and grammatical devices. Only in 'The Rock' does he mention the subject directly in main clauses, and then the reference is liturgical.