Talk:Ash Wednesday (poem)

Ash-Wednesday not Ash Wednesday
The poem has always been 'Ash-Wednesday' with a dash and not 'Ash Wednesday'. All authorized Faber editions (which Eliot himself oversaw) publish the poem with the dash in the title. (Unfortunately many respected critics who should know better have referred to the poem without a dash in their criticism.) Please can this article title and the beginning section be changed to reflect this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Youngpossum (talk • contribs) 19:49, 16 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Then why doesn't the Faber edition lede image show it? Ihardlythinkso (talk) 03:02, 11 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Not sure but we have an image of the 1930 title page inscribed by Eliot at http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=14958 and Gallup's Eliot bibliography (A15) has the hyphen. The poem as it stands now was originally published in 1930 as a book and so the title could in quotes or italicized. I prefer the quotes but I'm going to revert the article so it is italicized simply because it is easier. WikiParker (talk) 22:42, 11 July 2012 (UTC)


 * "Easier"?! "So the title could in quotes or italicized ..." Not according to WP:MoS. Curious: If hyphen is preferred, then why do you leave the opening lede sentence without hyphen? And do you think word "sometimes" is consistent with hyphen, if hyphen is preferred? (Hyphenated is used "sometimes", means what? That non-hyphenated is used more than sometimes?) This suggests logical inconsistency. Ihardlythinkso (talk) 23:09, 11 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Ok, I see now. (To match the WP article name. Obviously, the WP article name needs to be renamed.) Ok, Ihardlythinkso (talk) 23:19, 11 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, the title of the wikipedia page should be changed to have hyphen and the lead statement changed. I was taken by the other changes made and missed that when I reverted. A few times I thought about starting a T.S. Eliot project so Wikipedia could be consistent about titles and such but I've preferred working on other things.  I'm sorry about the trouble you took with the editing but a comment on the talk page saying that you would wait a day or two for a reply could have saved you the work. By the way, Eliot used a hyphen in "to-day" too (e.g., http://www.bartleby.com/200/sw5.html). I'm not sure if it was a British thing or older American English. Maybe we need to comment about the image of the book cover saying that "Ash/Wednes/day" [sic] is SIX poems. WikiParker (talk) 01:08, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

British Poems?
While T.S. Eliot did become a British citizen and convert to Anglicianism, Eloit's works are generally considered as a part of the American literature tradition. I am not saying that is should be moved, but it is something to discuss and consider.

--chemica 08:10, 27 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I think this has been an issue with Eliot in many places, and is not unique to this article or Wikipedia or anything. I'm not sure, perhaps both American and British? Interesting question. --DanielCD 13:24, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

I changed the link to the poem to a page that isn't full of ads or annoying pop-ups. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.183.20.253 (talk) 22:14, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

Speaking as an English prof, Eliot is claimed by both British and American Literature courses, and I doubt either will ever give him up.

What about the actual poem?
Why isn't there a section of this article summarizing the poem itself and critical reception? I'm going to see about adding that when I have time, but if I don't get to it, please feel free to do it yourself.

Also, I right now have Anglo Catholic in Religion on order (a book that discusses his conversion in detail). It's supposed to have a large section on this poem, so it might end up being useful. Luthien22 (talk) 03:07, 15 September 2014 (UTC)