Little Gidding is the fourth and final poem of T. S. Eliot 's Four Quartets , a series of poems that discuss time , perspective , humanity , and salvation . It was first published in September 1942 after being delayed for over a year because of the air @-@ raids on Great Britain during World War II and Eliot 's declining health . The title refers to a small Anglican community in Huntingdonshire , established by Nicholas Ferrar in the 17th century and scattered during the English Civil War .