T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land: composition, publication, and critical reception (1918-1923)

1. Eliot’s postwar crisis sets the poem’s context

   Jan 1, 1918Labels: T S, Postwar Britain

   • Britannica
   • BL

2. Eliot begins sustained work on the poem

   Jan 1, 1921Labels: T S, Poetic draft

   • Britannica
   • BL

3. Rest leave at Margate produces key lines

   Oct 1, 1921Labels: Margate, The Fire

   • British Library
   • Wikipedia

4. Lausanne treatment yields a full draft

   Dec 1, 1921Labels: Lausanne, Vittoz treatment

   • Wikipedia
   • BL

5. Eliot shows the manuscript to Ezra Pound

   Jan 1, 1922Labels: Ezra Pound, Paris

   • British Library
   • Wikipedia

6. Pound’s edits drastically reshape the poem

   Feb 1, 1922Labels: Ezra Pound, Editing process

   • Wikipedia
   • British Library

7. The poem’s working title is replaced

   Mar 1, 1922Labels: Working title, The Waste

   • Wikipedia
   • Modernism Lab

8. Magazine publication plans are negotiated

   Aug 1, 1922Labels: Publication negotiations, Literary magazines

   • Wikipedia
   • Beinecke

9. First publication in The Criterion (UK)

   Oct 16, 1922Labels: The Criterion, First publication

   • Wikipedia
   • New Yorker

10. First US publication in The Dial (November issue)

    Nov 1, 1922Labels: The Dial, US publication

    • Beinecke
    • NLS

11. Boni & Liveright publishes annotated US book edition

    Dec 1, 1922Labels: Boni &, Annotated edition

    • Wikipedia
    • NLS

12. Early reviews show a sharply mixed reception

    Jan 1, 1923Labels: Critical reception, Early reviews

    • Wikipedia
    • Britannica

13. Hogarth Press prints first UK book edition

    Sep 1, 1923Labels: Hogarth Press, UK book

    • NLS
    • Christie s

14. By late 1923, debate helps canonize the poem

    Dec 1, 1923Labels: Canonization, Modernist debate

    • Britannica
    • Wikipedia