PERHAPS THE FINEST POETRY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY T.S. Eliot's position in the literature of the world is unmistakable, largely due to the poems contained within this volume. An American who moved to England, Eliot wrote poems reflecting a deep scholarship and also caught the mood and flavor of a very new time -- all of these poems (and they're the bulk of the work Eliot did in his lifetime) come from the years just after World War I. Clearly and observably, these poems captured the essence of the hour -- in a very real way, they mark the beginning of a new literary era. Here are three of Eliot's first published volumes of poetry which first appeared in journals, sponsored partly by the famous poet Ezra Pound. Prufrock and Other Observations published in 1917 contains the poet's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Poems, published in 1920, includes "Sweeney and the Nightingales." The Waste Land, published in 1922 and containing a fascinating "Notes" is perhaps the poet's most compelling piece. Reading all these works together, however, creates a remarkable context that expands the experience of encountering any of these poems individually. The writer Ronald Bush notes that Eliot's early poems like "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," "Portrait of a Lady," "La Figlia Che Piange," "Preludes," and "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" had " an] effect that] was both unique and compelling, and their assurance staggered Eliot's] contemporaries who were privileged to read them in manuscript.