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Notes elements of the past that are noted and realized. In Eliot’s own words: “What happens when
a new work of art is created is something that happens simultaneously to all the works of art
that preceded it.” Eliot refers to this organic tradition, this developing canon, as the “mind of
Europe.” The private mind is subsumed by this more massive one.
• Despite the title of the essay, Eliot never directly mentions the word talent once. Instead, he
seems to focus solely on the “tradition” aspect of his essay. This implies that the “Individual
Talent” mentioned here is not what is conventionally considered to be talent, but instead, in
Eliot’s definition, it is in fact the ability to connect with Tradition (Eliot’s definition), and
create something which has the merit to become a part of it.
• The implications here separate Eliot’s idea of talent from the conventional definition (just as
his idea of Tradition is separate from the conventional definition), one so far from it, perhaps,
that he chooses never to directly label it as talent. Whereas the conventional definition of
talent, especially in the arts, is a genius that one is born with. Not so for Eliot. Instead, talent
is acquired through a careful study of poetry, claiming that Tradition, “cannot be inherited,
and if you want it, you must obtain it by great labour.” Eliot asserts that it is absolutely
necessary for the poet to be studied, to have an understanding of the poets before him, and
to be well versed enough that he can understand and incorporate the “mind of Europe” into
his poetry. But the poet’s study is unique – it is knowledge which “does not encroach,” and
which does not “deaden or pervert poetic sensibility.” It is, to put it most simply, a poetic
knowledge – knowledge observed through a poetic lens. This ideal implies that knowledge
gleaned by a poet is not knowledge of facts, but knowledge which leads to a greater
understanding of the mind of Europe. As Eliot explains, “Shakespeare acquired more essential
history from Plutarch than most men could from the whole British Museum.”
• Such is the essence of Eliot’s widely influential argument. It is an argument that has given
shape to large portions of subsequent literary critical awareness. Many more recent students
of literature have taken their cues from this essay and other essays by Eliot. And Eliot’s
presence can be felt even in works that travel in other directions. For example, the basic
tension between the individual writer and traditions, between the poet and his forbears, is
read quite differently in Harold Bloom’s “The anxiety of Influence:A Theory of poetry”.
• In short, Eliot’s essay has been, in a current critical term, a seminal essay. That is, much has
grown from the terrain cultivated by Eliot’s spade in this work.

30.5 Key-Words

1. Plutarch : The Greek historian Plutarch (c. 46-114 A.D.) wrote about important Greeks
and Romans in his Parallel Lives. He started with contemporary historical
figures like Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, and went back to mythical figures
like Theseus, in ancient Athens, and Romulus, founder of Rome. Shakespeare’s
Roman plays were inspired by his reading of Plutarch’s Lives, translated into
English by North.
2. Valorized : to valorize is to raise the value of something, to invest it with special
significance.

30.6 Review Questions

1. Discuss T. S. Eliot as a Critic.
2. Briefly discribe the essay tradition and individual talent.
3. What is Eliot’s definition of criticism ? What guidelines does he give for the practice of criticism?
4. Does Eliot’s critical practice conform to the guidelines he has given for the critic ?

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