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Unit 30: Eliot-Tradition And Individual Talent...

Its Function :- The work of a poet in the present is to be compared and contrasted with works of Notes
the past, and judged by the standards of the past. But this judgement dose not mean determining
good or bad it dose not mean deciding whether the present work is better or worse then works of
the past an author in the present is certainly only to be judged by the priciples and standard of the
past the comparison is to be made for knowing the facts, all he facts, about the new work of art.
The comparison is made for the purposes of analysis, and for forming a better understanding of
the new.
The past helps us to understand the present, and he throws light on the past. It is this way along
that we can form an idea of what is really individual and new. It is by comparison along that we
can sift the traditional from individual elements in a given work of art.
Sence of Tradition : Eliot now explains future what he means by a sense of tradition. The sense of
tradition dose not mean that the poet should try to know the past as whole,take it to be lump or
mass without any discrimination. Such a ciurse is impossinle as well as undersirable.
A sense of tradition in the real sense means consciusness, “ of the main current, which does not at
all flow invariably through the most distinquished reputation” In other words, to know the tradition,
the poet must judge critically what are the main trands and what are not. He must cnfine himself
to the main trands to the exclusion of all that is incidental or topical.
The poet must also realise that art never improves, though its ,aterial is never the same. The great
works of art never lose their significance, for there is no qualitative improvement in art. There
may be refinment, there may be development. But from the point of view of the artist there is no
improvement.
Impresonality of Poetry :- The artist must continually surrender himself to something which is
more valueable then himeself , i.e. the ilteraly tradition. he must allow his poetic sensibility to be
shaped and modified by the past. he must continue to acuire the sense of tradition throughout his
career in the beginning, his self, his individuality, may assert itslef , but as power mature there
must be greater and greater extinction of personality.he must acaurie greater and greater objectivity
his emotions and passion must be deper sonalised: he must be as impresonal and objective as a
sceintifist. the presonality of the artist is not important : the important thing is his sense of ‘tradition’
a good poem is a living whole of all the poetry that has ever been written.
Thus the poet’s personality is merely a medium, having the same significance as catalytic agent, or
a recepatabtacle in whice chemical reactions take place. that is why the poet hold that , “ honest
criticism and sensitive appreciation is driect not upon the poet but uopn the poetry.”
The Poetics Process :- In the second part of the essay eliot develops furture his theory of the
impersonality of poetry. He compares ths mind of the poet to a catalyst and the process of a
chemical reaction, hust as chemical reactions take place in the presence of a catalyst along, so also
the poet’s mind is the catalytic agent for combining different emotions into something new suppose
there is a jar containing oxygen and sulphre dioxide. These two gases combine to form sulphureous
acid when a fine filament of platinum is introduced into the jar. The Combination takes place only
in the presence of the place of platium, but the metal ifself dose not undergo any change, it
remains insert, neutural and un affected. The mind of the poet is like the cataytic agent. It is
necessary for combinations of emotions and experiences to take place, but itself dose not undergo
any change during the process of poetic combination.
In the case of a young and immature poet, his mind , his personal emotions and experincess, may
find some experssion in his composition, but ,says eliot,” the more perfact the artist, the more
completely separste in him will be the man suffer and the mind which creates”.T.s. eliot here
distinguisher between emotions and feeling , but he dose not state what this difference is . “
Nowhere else in his writings”says a.g. george, “is this distinction maintained: nither dose he
adeauately distinguish between the meaning of the two words” The distinction should , therefore,
be ignored more as it has bearing on his impersonal theory of poetry.

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