Just under the surface I shall be, all together at first, then separate and drift, through all the earth and perhaps in the end through a cliff into the sea, something of me. A ton of worms in an acre, that is a wonderful thought, a ton of worms, I believe it.

Ryan John ed. Early works
Beckett's earliest works are generally considered to have been strongly influenced by the work of his friend James Joyce. Nohow On: Company Ill Seen Ill Said Worstward Ho.

Strongly influenced by James Joyce he is considered one of the last modernists. He was elected Saoi of Aosdána in 1984.