Four Quartets Allusions & Cultural References

When poets refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References:

  • Heraclitus (Ancient "Pre-Socratic" Greek Philosopher). Fragments. Trans. Hermann Diels and John Burnett. (epigraph) 
  • Hardy, Thomas. "The Darkling Thrush." (24)
  • Keats, John. "Ode on a Grecian Urn." (29) 
  • Merton, Thomas. The Way of Chuang Tzu. (64)
  • Donne, John. "For Whom the Bell Tolls." (130)
  • Bible. Matthew 4:1-11. (158)
  • St. John of the Cross. The Dark Night of the Soul. (163)
  • Bible. Genesis 3:8-10. (175)
  • Bible. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. (187-189)
  • Dante. Inferno. (212).
  • Gray, Thomas. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." (204-205).
  • Bhagavad Gita (Hindu Spiritual Text). (524-574)
  • Dante. Paradisio. (583).
  • St. Julian of Norwich. Revelations of Divine Love. (810, 840)