Wise words? 

"IMMENSE. MAGNIFICENT. TERRIBLE." Few poems have the power to evoke such a strong response. But hardly any think John Peale Bishop was overreacting. His words upon reading fellow poet TS Eliot's The Waste Land captured the feelings of a generation. 

The Waste Land arrived without fanfare in an unassuming October 1922 issue of Eliot's literary journal, The Criterion. Yet it exploded into being one of the 20th Century's most important poems and defined a new genre entirely.  

Describing an image of London at the end of World War One, the poem explores loss and loneliness in a style no one had before. Eliot describes the culture that he thought had died and been replaced by capitalistRelated to an economic system based on private ownership of businesses and goods. life and the modern city.

This month marks a hundred years since its publication. With public readings all over the world, and even a new app released to explore the poem, poetry lovers still pore over The Waste Land.

Some say it defined the modernistRelating to a philosophical and arts movement that came from broad transformations in Western society in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. genre of poetry. Breaking from the classical language of the Romantic eraAn artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that defined Europe from 1800 to 1850. , Eliot fused different traditions and structures. He sprinkles through the poem references to the Bible, Shakespeare, Hindu and Buddhist text, WagnerA 19th Century German composer. and French poetry.

And it is not just this "high culture" which attracts readers. Eliot also weaves in references to jazz, cars, gramophones and tinned food. Vividly and emotionally, he describes a fear of the mundane: "A crowd flowed over London Bridge... Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled".

Today, 100 years, a second World War and a global pandemic later, some think London Bridge does not look all that different to the morning Eliot wrote his verse. His fears, unhappiness and disillusion still resonate.¹ Fans of Eliot argue he created the greatest modern poem by drawing on emotions felt by everyone. 

Yet critics say there is a problem: to be truly great, art should be accessible to as many people as possible. Eliot's work is complex, profound - and exclusive. He expresses his sense of loss through references to both HomerAncient Greek poet, author of the Illiad and the Odyssey. It is unknown if Homer is a single author or a name for a composite oral tradition. and OvidA Roman poet whose work influenced Western art and literature.'s Metamorphoses. 

In contrast, in 2016 Bob Dylan won the Nobel prize for literature for songs that "created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". Dylan's lyrics - said to be partly inspired by Eliot - similarly draw on the work of classical writers and poets.² And his famous song, The Times They Are A-Changin', describes a very similar social change. 

Yet many commentators say his simple language and beautiful melodies make his songs far more universal than Eliot's long and challenging poem.

Dylan tells a positive story which unites his listeners. Eliot, meanwhile, longs to return to the classic literature and ancient texts he uses. His sense of hopelessness is clear from the opening line: "April is the cruellest month".

There is no one person or body who defines what "great" art is. It can be elusive, like The Waste Land, or more accessible, as shown by Dylan. Today, many believe it is readers who should make the ultimate judgement. 

Yes: Taking inspiration from literary greats throughout time, Eliot created a poem that has captured us for generations by speaking to some of the most fundamental human emotions.

No: Great modern poems are poems that speak to everyone. Eliot's work is undoubtedly brilliant, but the "greatest modern poem" cannot only speak to a small section of society.

Or... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Poems, like all art, come in all shapes and sizes. The "greatest" poem depends on who is reading it.