Thomas Stearns Eliot is not only the poet who can easily be called “the English Brodsky” (or vice versa: “Brodsky, Russian Eliot”), he is the influential figure to inspire the musicians of younger generations: in 1981, Andrew Lloyd Webber would compose one of the most famous musicals ever, “Cats”, based on Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”.
And the poem “The Triumph of Bullshit“ is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written instance of the word bullshit.
The next three occurrences are found in Ezra Pound, Wyndham Lewis, and E. E. Cummings.
The scandalous poem was directed against his Victorian critics and was not published the year it was written.
And when thyself with silver foot shall pass
Among the theories scattered on the grass
Take up my good intentions with the rest
And then for Christ’s sake stick them up your ass.
First published in the Levinarium Telegram Channel (now closed and deleted)