Original: Thomas Stearns Eliot OM ( September 26 , 1888 & ndash ; January 4 , 1965 ) was an American-born English poet , playwright , and literary critic , arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century .
Simplified: Thomas Stearns Eliot ( September 26 , 1888 - January 4 , 1965 ) , was an American poet .