POSTPONED: Four Quartets Discussion Group

Session Dates: Monday Evenings at 7:00pm on February 24, March 9, March 16, March 30, April 6

Cost (Includes book): $12 (available for pick-up from St. Patrick Orthodox Church on Sunday, February 16).

Registration Deadline: February 12

The Four Quartets are the crowning achievement of T. S. Eliot’s poetry. The themes that run through the four poems are wonderfully suited to a Lenten reflection on our faith: the meaning of time and eternity, Incarnation and Resurrection, pilgrimage and journey toward God, penance and purification, love and communion of the saints. We will have five roughly one and one half hour meetings. It is not my intention to lecture, though I suspect there will be instances where I will hold the floor for a while. Ideally, we should discuss among ourselves what we have found in the poetry and its meaning for our faith.

Before the First Session

I suggest the following for preparation.  Read through the entirety of the poetry before our first meeting. Read the poems out loud, if you can arrange to find a quiet place to do so. Do not stop to ponder or try to figure things out on first reading.  Just let the words, the images, and the rhythm of the poetry wash over you. 

For our first meeting read over especially the first poem, Burnt Norton. I intend to launch into it at our first meeting after introductory remarks about the four poems and how they form an integrated whole.  We will decide each week how much we hope to cover for the next meeting.  But I think it is fair to say that, for example, at our second meeting we will complete our study of Burnt Norton and begin an inquiry into East Coker. 

Dr. Vigen Guroian

Until his retirement in 2015, Vigen Guroian was Professor of Religious Studies in Orthodox Christianity at the University of Virginia. He has authored ten books on a variety subjects including Orthodox theology and ethics, spirituality and gardening, and children’s literature.