Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) began his spiritual enquiry as a young man. At university he studied comparative religions and the medieval mystics. His thinking was greatly influenced by the philosopher Bertrand Russell and the poet Ezra Pound. Eliot’s experimentation with forms of poetry were a kind of literary journey which may have reflected something of his spiritual journey. Termed ‘one of the major Christian poets of the 20th Century’(1), Eliot’s work on spiritual matters greatly appeals to me. I take pleasure from his ability with words and I am interested in the subject matter. The poem, The Hollow Men (1925) and two poems from The Ariel Poems collection (written and published 1