Tradition and Individual Talent

Thomas Stearns Eliot
1
TRADITION AND THE INDIVIDUAL
TALENT
T.S.ELIOT
Three
Three parts
parts of
ofthis
thisessay-
essay-Tradition
Tradition and
and individual
individual talent
talent
The concept of
tradition
TRADITION
AND The concept of
INDIVIDUAL
TALENT tradition
The concept of
tradition
THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT
(1888 -1965 )
British poet - playwright – essayist –

publisher – social and literary critic.
One of the twentieth century’s major poet .
TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

CONTRIBUTIONS :
Objective Correlation
Theory of Impersonality
Concept of Tradition
Disassociation of sensibility
ESSAYS :
Traditional and Individual Talent (1919)

 Hamlet and His Problems (1920)
 Metaphysical Poets (1921)

Introduction :
 “Tradition and Individual Talent ” (1919) is an essay
written by the poet and literary critic T. S. Eliot.
 The essay was first published in ‘The Egoist ’ (1919)
and later in Eliot’s first book of criticism , “The
Sacred Wood ”(1920).
 Tradition and Individual Talent is one of the more
well known work that Eliot produced in his critic
capacity .
 It formulates Eliot’s influential conception of the
relationship between the poet and the literary
tradition which proceeds him .

TRADITIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT (1919)
This essay is divided into three parts . That are :
Part one : The Concept of “ Tradition ”
Part two : The Theory of Impersonal Poetry
Part three : The Conclusion or Summing up.

What makes the
writer
traditional?
No poet, no artist of any art, has his
complete meaning alone. His
significance, his appreciation is the
appreciation of his relation to the
dead poets and artists.
The Concept of “Tradition” :
Eliot presents his conception of tradition and the definition
of poet and poetry in relation to it.
For Eliot ,the term “tradition” is imbued with a special

and complex character.
It represents a “simultaneous order” , by which Eliot means a
historical timelessness – a fusion of past and present , and at
the same time , a sense of present temporality.
Eliot claims that this “historical sense” is not only a

resemblance of traditional works but an awareness and
understanding of their relation to his poetry.
The historical sense involves a perception , not only the

pastness of past , but of its presence.
The difference between present and 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.
When a poet engages in a new work he realizes an aesthetic

“ideal order” , as it has been established by the literary tradition
that has come before him.
 As such , the act of artistic creation does not take place in a

vacuum.
The inclusion of new work alters the way in which the past is
seen , elements of past that are noted and realized.
The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice , a

continual extinction of personality.
 This leads to Eliot’s so called “Impersonality Theory” of poetry.

The Theory of Impersonal Poetry:
Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is directed not
upon the poet but upon the poetry.
Eliot compares the poet’s mind to a catalyst ,
- in which the reactants are feelings and emotion

that are synthesized to create an artistic image that
captures the same feelings and emotion.
- While the mind of poet is necessary for production , it

emerges unaffected by the process.
- The artist stores feelings and emotions , and

properly unites them into a specific combination
,which is the artistic product.
 The poet has, not a “personality” to express , but a particular medium
, which is only a medium and not a personality , in which impression
and experience combine in peculiar and unexpected ways.
- Impression and experiences which are important for the man may
not take place in the poetry , and those which become important in the
poetry , may play quite an ignorable part in the man , the personality.
 It is not his personal emotions , the emotions provoked by particular

event in his life , that the poet is in any way remarkable or interesting .
- His particular emotions may be simple , crude or flat.

- Great work do not express the personal emotion of the poet .
-And the poet does not reveal his own unique and novel emotions,
but rather , by drawing an ordinary ones and channeling them through
the intensity of poetry.

-According to Eliot ‘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.
-Since , successful poetry is impersonal and , therefore , exists
independent of its poet , it outlives the poet and can
incorporate into the timeless “ideal order” of the “living”
literary tradition.
‘Talent’ , especially in the arts , is a genius,

that one is born with. Instead talent is acquired
through a careful study of poetry

Conclusion :
 Tradition and Individual Talent (1919) is an essay

written by T.S.Eliot.
 According to him , the emotion of art is impersonal.
 And the poet cannot reach this impersonality without

surrendering himself wholly to the work to be done.
 And he is not likely to know what is to be done unless

he lives in what is not merely the present , but the present
moment of past , unless he is conscious , not of what is
dead , but of what is already living.

PART 1
CATCHY
LINES…
“Every nation, every race, has not only its own
creative, but its own critical turn of mind”.
“The French are “more critical” than we.
“Criticism is as inevitable as breathing”
“when we praise a poet, upon those aspects of

his work in which he least resembles anyone
else”.
“Tradition, should positively be discouraged”.

“Novelty is better than repetition”.
“Tradition is a matter of much wider
significance”
“The past should be altered by the present as
much as the present is directed by the past”.
“The art never improves, but that the material of
art is never quite the same”.
“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”.
PART 2
CATCHY
LINES…
Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation is
directed not upon the poet but upon the
poetry”.
“Impersonal theory of poetry is the relation of

the poem to its author”.
“The mind of the poet is the shred of platinum”.
“Elements of transforming catalyst; emotions

and feelings”.
“For it is not the “greatness”, “the intensity, of
the emotions, the components, but the intensity
of the artistic process, the pressure so to speak,
under which the fushion takes place, that
counts”.
“Metaphysical theory of the substantial unity of

the soul, is that poet has, not a “personality” to
express, but a particular medium, which is only
a medium and not a personality, in which
impressions and experiences combine in
peculiar and unexpected ways.
“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”.
PART 3
CATCHY
LINES…
“To divert interest from the poet to the
poetry is a laudable aim: for it would
conduce to a juster estimation of actual
poetry, good and bad”.
“There are many people who appreciate the

expression of sincere emotion in verse, and
there is a smaller number of people who can
appreciate technical excellence”.

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Thomas Stearns Eliot

British poet - playwright – essayist –

One of the twentieth century’s major poet .

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

Traditional and Individual Talent (1919)

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

This essay is divided into three parts . That are :

Part one : The Concept of “ Tradition ”

Part two : The Theory of Impersonal Poetry

Part three : The Conclusion or Summing up.

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

For Eliot ,the term “tradition” is imbued with a special

Eliot claims that this “historical sense” is not only a

The historical sense involves a perception , not only the

When a poet engages in a new work he realizes an aesthetic

 As such , the act of artistic creation does not take place in a

The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice , a

 This leads to Eliot’s so called “Impersonality Theory” of poetry.

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

Eliot compares the poet’s mind to a catalyst ,

- in which the reactants are feelings and emotion

- While the mind of poet is necessary for production , it

- The artist stores feelings and emotions , and

 It is not his personal emotions , the emotions provoked by particular

- His particular emotions may be simple , crude or flat.

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

‘Talent’ , especially in the arts , is a genius,

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

 Tradition and Individual Talent (1919) is an essay

 According to him , the emotion of art is impersonal.

 And the poet cannot reach this impersonality without

 And he is not likely to know what is to be done unless

TRADITION AND INDIVIDUAL TALENT

“The French are “more critical” than we.

“Criticism is as inevitable as breathing”

“when we praise a poet, upon those aspects of

“Tradition, should positively be discouraged”.

“Impersonal theory of poetry is the relation of

“The mind of the poet is the shred of platinum”.

“Elements of transforming catalyst; emotions

“Metaphysical theory of the substantial unity of

“There are many people who appreciate the

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