East Coker

poem by Eliot

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Article History

East Coker, poem by T.S. Eliot, originally appearing in 1940, first in the New English Weekly and then in pamphlet form. It is the second of the four poems in The Four Quartets. Like the other three poems, “East Coker” was written in strong-stress metre and organized into five sections. Continuing the study of cyclical patterns begun in “Burnt Norton,” it examines the nature of history and spiritual renewal.

“East Coker” is named after the hamlet in Somersetshire where Eliot’s ancestors lived before immigrating to America in the 1660s; he visited the site in 1937. The poem is bleak in tone, with images of deserted streets, subterranean shelters, and hospitals. It expresses the sentiment that

For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.