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T.S. Eliot is the author and narrator of “Tradition and the Individual Talent.” As a poet himself, he expresses his conception of the ideal poet and the ideal poem. He puts the notion of tradition in writing in a favorable light. In Part 1 of his essay, he seeks to remove the common opinion’s prejudice that the best parts of a poet’s work are the ones that bear no resemblance to any other poem. Eliot claims instead that the parts of a poem that resemble the past in fact are the most individual parts of a poet’s work. In Part 2, he seeks to remove the prejudice that the poet is renowned for their personality and their unique experiences. Eliot’s claim is that the poet is not necessarily remarkable personally, but that the poet is an excellent craftsman of feelings. He urges critics and readers of poetry to appreciate the poem and not the poet, because the poem displays ingenuity whereas the poet’s personal life does not. Eliot creates the character of the traditional poet as the ideal poet—one who, unlike the immature poet, works selflessly and diligently to emulate the dead poets. With this essay, Eliot hopes to help people seriously interested in pursuing poetry.
T.S. Eliot Quotes in Tradition and the Individual Talent
The Tradition and the Individual Talent quotes below are all either spoken by T.S. Eliot or refer to T.S. Eliot. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 1 Quotes
We endeavor to find something that can be isolated in order to be enjoyed. Whereas if we approach a poet without this prejudice we shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of his work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously.
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This historical sense, which is a sense of the timeless as well as of the temporal and of the timeless and of the temporal together, is what makes a writer traditional. And it is at the same time what makes a writer most acutely conscious of his place in time, of his contemporaneity.
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To conform merely would be for the new work not really to conform at all; it would not be new, and would therefore not be a work of art. And we do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value.
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The poet must be very conscious of the main current, which does not at all flow invariably through the most distinguished reputations. He must be quite aware of the obvious fact that art never improves, but that the material of art is never quite the same.
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But the difference between the present and the past is that the conscious present is an awareness of the past in a way and to an extent which the past’s awareness of itself cannot show.
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What happens is a continual surrender of himself as he is at the moment to something which is more valuable. The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.
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Part 2 Quotes
The mind of the mature poet differs from that of the immature one not precisely in any valuation of “personality,” not being necessarily more interesting, or having “more to say,” but rather by being a more finely perfected medium in which special, or very varied, feelings are at liberty to enter into new combinations.
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The more perfect the artist, the more completely separate in him will be the man who suffers and the man who creates; the more perfectly will the mind digest and transmute the passions which are its material.
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[The traditional poet’s] emotions may be simple, or crude, or flat. The emotion in his poetry will be a very complex thing, but not with the complexity of the emotions of people who have very complex or unusual emotions in life.
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Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.
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T.S. Eliot Character Timeline in Tradition and the Individual Talent
The timeline below shows where the character T.S. Eliot appears in Tradition and the Individual Talent. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
Eliot remarks that the English often don’t speak of tradition. Occasionally they will speak of the...
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Eliot points out that the English never use the word “tradition” to praise either living or...
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Eliot remarks that, when the English praise some poet, they tend to base their praise on...
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However, Eliot cautions that tradition would be discouraged if it simply meant imitating the successes of one’s...
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By “historical sense,” Eliot means the sense that conceives of the past as in the past but also present....
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Eliot asserts that no poet has any meaning in isolation. Readers can only appreciate a poet...
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Eliot says that the poet also knows that they are judged by the past. Again, this...
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Eliot instructs the traditional poet, when keeping the past in mind, not to view it indiscriminately,...
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Eliot acknowledges that many people object to his idea of a poetic profession, saying that it...
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To do this, Eliot says the traditional poet must always sacrifice self and personal interests for something of greater...
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Part 2
Eliot asserts that readers should criticize and appreciate poems, not the poets who wrote them. One...
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Eliot returns to his analogy of the platinum. When platinum is present, oxygen and sulphur dioxide...
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In Eliot’s analogy, experiences are the elements that transform in the presence of the platinum. But the...
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Eliot points out that there are countless of these combinations. Contrary to what some believe, the...
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Eliot says that the poet is not a personality, but that their mind is a medium...
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Eliot examines a passage that combines negative and positive emotions. On the one hand, the poem...
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Eliot claims that the poet’s personal experiences and emotions do not make the poet notable. The...
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Eliot says that poetry comes neither from emotion, nor recollection, nor tranquility. Rather, it is the...
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Part 3
Eliot does not intend to make a metaphysical claim, but only to be practical and to...
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Lastly, Eliot reminds readers that the emotions in poems should be impersonal. In order to write impersonal...
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