Tradition and the Individual Talent : Quotations
Tradition and the Individual Talent is a notable literary work by T. S. Eliot. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Tradition and the Individual Talent.
Quotations
Quotes:
“Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.” (Part – II)
Explanation: Eliot says people should focus on the poem itself, not the poet’s life or feelings.
“The mind of the poet is the shred of platinum.” (Part – II)
Explanation: Eliot uses platinum to explain that the poet’s mind helps create poems without being changed by emotions.
“For it is not the ‘greatness,’ the intensity, of the emotions, the components, but the intensity of the artistic process.” (Part – II)
Explanation: Eliot says it’s not about how strong the emotions are but how well the poet creates the poem.
“For it is neither emotion, nor recollection, nor, without distortion of meaning, tranquillity. It is a concentration, and a new thing resulting from the concentration”. (Part – II)
Explanation: Eliot explains that poetry comes from focusing many feelings together to make something new.
“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 – II)
Explanation: Eliot says poetry should help the poet get away from personal feelings and personality.
“The emotion of art is impersonal…”. (Part – III)
Explanation: Eliot believes a poet must fully give themselves to the work, putting aside personal feelings.
“Every nation, every race, has not only its own creative, but its own critical turn of mind.” (Part – I)
Explanation: Eliot says different cultures have their own way of creating and judging art.
“You cannot value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead.” (Part – I)
Explanation: Eliot says a poet should be compared with great poets from the past to understand their value.
“The poet cannot reach this impersonality without surrendering himself wholly to the work to be done.” (Part – III)
Explanation: Eliot repeats that a poet must give up their own feelings to create great art.
“Tradition is a matter of much wider significance.” (Part – I)
Explanation: Eliot explains that tradition is more than copying old works. It connects poets with the past.
Message:
- Art requires tradition and impersonal creativity.