Explain T.S. Eliot’s idea of “Historical Sense” in his Tradition and the Individual Talent.

Answer

Explain T.S. Eliot’s idea of “Historical Sense” in his Tradition and the Individual Talent. 

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) was one of the greatest poets and critics of the twentieth century. In his essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (1919), he explained the relationship between a poet and the past. His idea of “historical sense” is at the centre of this essay. It shows his classical attitude toward literature. For Eliot, a poet is not separate from the past. He must understand the whole tradition of poetry that came before him and feel its living presence in his own work. The “historical sense” joins the past and the present together in a single, continuous tradition.

Meaning of Historical Sense: Eliot says that a true poet must have a “historical sense.” It means the poet must feel that the great works of the past are not dead but still alive in the present. Eliot writes, 

“The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.”

This means that when a poet writes, he should feel that all the poets of the past — Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton — are living with him. His new poem should not destroy the past but should fit into that old order and add something new to it.

Relationship Between Past and Present: According to Eliot, the past and the present are not separate. They have a living relationship. The past helps to shape the present, and the present also changes the way we see the past. He says,

“The past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past.”

When a new work of art appears, it does not stand alone. It takes its place in the order of all other works that came before it. At the same time, it slightly changes that order because now the past is seen in a new light. In this way, tradition is not fixed or dead. It is alive and