“But my point, which I hope came through in other posts, was that it wasn't them who kicked open the door.”
(Forgive the repetettion of an answer from a previous post, but it applies here, also) I agree, Tim. I am the first to admit that Eliot was greatly influenced by French Symbolist poets etc. It’s not so much that those influences don’t matter historically, but rather their influence has been, like it or not, filtered through Eliot et al. to such an extent that it is Eliot et al. who made the dissemination of theses influences universally acceptable.
“And I don't agree that certain innovations since have been marginal by comparison, but I don't really think it is worth arguing about.”
They could be said to be marginal in that they didn’t produce the same shock-wave as Eliot et al. If any have, they have been well hidden.
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