In a few months of autumn 1938, the Anglo-Irish poet, Louis Mac Neice composed Autumn Journal, one of his most memorable works. “The poem”, he wrote to T. S. Eliot, his publisher, “is based on first-hand experience, written in 24 sections of about 80 lines in length, designed to give the poem a dramatic quality, and to show off different facets of my personality.”

Having read the manuscript, T. S. Eliot wrote:

I have read Autumn Journal and think it is very good indeed. At times, I was much moved and what is still more unusual in the case of a single long poem, I found that I read it through without my interest flagging at any point. That is partly due to the dexterity with which you vary the versificatio

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Published 14 March 2006

Citation: Early, Patrick. "Autumn Journal". The Literary Encyclopedia. 14 March 2006.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6417, accessed 9 February 2010.]

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