Abstract
Four Quartets (1942) is a sequence of four poems:'Burnt Norton' (1936), 'East Coker' (1940), 'The Dry Salvages'(1941) and 'Little Gidding' (1942). The main sources of themystical symbols in T.S. Eliot's masterpiece, Four Quartets,are some of Saint John of the Cross's writings and this has notbeen given its due of study. This paper aims at exploring St.John of the Cross's influence on Eliot's Four Quartets,especially his Dark Night of the Soul and The Ascent ofMount Carmel. The downward movement, the descent intothe inner darkness and the symbols of ascending anddescending of the stairs in Eliot's poems were among theoutstanding mystical symbols used by John of the Cross. Eliotalso strongly echoes John of the Cross in his emphases thatone must die to self and undergo mortification of the bodybefore one can hope for the perfect union of the soul withGod. The paper attempts to investigate Eliot's use of these andother symbols relating them to their counterparts in the worksof St. John of the Cross .
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