How important is the relationship between tradition and individual talent?

Answer

How important is the relationship between tradition and individual talent? Discuss. [2018]

Or, Comment on the importance of the relationship between tradition and individual talent. [2016] ✪✪✪

T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) is the 1948 Nobel Prize-winning poet and critic. In his famous essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent” (1919), he explains how tradition and individual talent are connected in the making of poetry. He believes that no poet can create anything meaningful in isolation. The poet’s originality comes from his deep understanding of tradition. For Eliot, a good poet must balance both respect for the past and creativity in the present.

Meaning of Tradition: Eliot gives a new meaning to the word “tradition.” Before him, tradition meant following old rules or copying ancient writers. But Eliot says that true tradition is something deeper. It is the knowledge and understanding of the whole literature of the past. Eliot says the 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 says:

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

When a poet writes, he must be aware of all that has been written before him. His new poem should not destroy the past but should add something new to it.

Role of the Individual Talent: While Eliot gives great importance to tradition, he also values the poet’s individual talent. According to Eliot, individual talent is the poet’s personal gift or creative power. It is the poet’s ability to fit into the ongoing literary tradition and add something new to it. When a poet writes something new, his poem becomes part of the living tradition. This new work also slightly changes how we understand old works. For example, when a modern poet writes about love, his words may make readers see Shakespeare’s Sonnets or Donne’s poems in a new way. This