Four Quartets

Four Quartets is a series of four poems by T. S. Eliot, published individually from 1936 to 1942 and collected in book form in 1943. Eliot considered it his finest work.

Each quartet has five movements and is titled by a place name: Burnt Norton (1936), East Coker (1940), The Dry Salvages (1941), and Little Gidding (1942).

Eliot's insights into the cyclical nature of life are revealed through themes and images woven throughout the four poems. Spiritual, philosophical, and personal themes emerge through symbolic allusions and literary and religious references from both Eastern and Western thought.

The work addresses connections between the personal and the historical, spiritual renewal, and the nature of experience. It is considered the poet's clearest exposition of his Christian beliefs.