... 'impersonalised' by the tradition in which the poet works; and third, his use of quotations from and allusions to other poets' work for reference, parody, irony, and a sense of continuing intertextual communication and community. Difficulties are created by Eliot's frequent allusions to other literatures, languages, and cultures. Many of these references are difficult to follow, require a specialised knowledge ... hardly dated. Ronald Firbank is an unusual figure in early twentieth-century literature. His stories and novels are very much an acquired taste, combining high camp, outra...

• Word Count: 10566
• Approx Pages: 42

... also confronted by the immemorial war between the body and the soul, strained through a subtle intelligence and a sensitive spirit. The -metaphysical style seems the natural vehicle for expressing a sense of the tensions between matter and spirit, faith and reason, between comfortable Aristotelian cosmology and disturbing -new philosophy, an inheritance from a century of theological, philosophical and political wrangling. ... Donne belonged to the philosophy of thought called -Platonism, in which the superiority of intellectual and spiritual relationships to mere involvement of the sense...

• Word Count: 7662
• Approx Pages: 31
• Grade Level: High School