Intro
Maybe the most famous poem of the 20th century, this one, as you can probably imagine, isn't the easiest read. Now, Marxists aren't that into poetry, but this one? Well, this one is something a little different.
Quote
For Ezra Pound
il miglior fabbro
Analysis
Yeah, folks, that's the poem's epigraph, and nothing but the epigraph.
But that epigraph is a big deal: it's a dedication to Ezra Pound, Eliot's fellow poet. Pound was the guy who made the poem what it is today—he edited the heck out of it (you can see his changes here). The Italian part, in fact, means: "the better craftsman." Eliot is basically saying Pound is a better poet than he is.
What would Marx say? Well, his little ears would prick up at the sound of "craft"—Marx loves economics. In fact, he just loves it when someone makes anything. So when Eliot calls a poet a craftsman, that's right up Marx's street. It's a mode of production, see?
Eliot is saying that poetry is a form of making. So a poet like Eliot is an artisan—not a factory worker, but something more like an old-time, Amish dude hand-crafting those magic wooden fireplaces one at a time.
Also, a Marxist might point out that since it was Pound who really made the poem what it was, is the poem great on its own, or is it great because Pound said it was great? Who made Pound the judge of good literature?