Yale University, School of Architecture
Tradition and the Individual Talent
Author(s): T. S. Eliot
Source: Perspecta, Vol. 19 (1982), pp. 36-42
Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Perspecta.
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Tradition
andtheIndividual
Talent
T. S. ELIOT
I
IN ENGLISH WRITING WE SELDOM SPEAK of tradition,thoughwe
occasionallyapplyitsnamein deploringitsabsence. We cannotreferto 'the
or to 'a tradition';
tradition' at most,we employtheadjectivein sayingthat
thepoetryofSo-and-sois 'traditional' or even'tootraditional'. Seldom,per-
haps, does the word appearexcept in a phrase ofcensure. If it is
otherwise,
vaguelyapprobative, withtheimplication, as totheworkapproved,ofsome
pleasingarchaeological reconstruction. You can hardlymaketheword
agreeableto Englishears withoutthis comfortable referenceto thereassur-
ing science ofarchaeology.
Certainly thewordis notlikelyto appearin ourappreciations ofliving
or dead writers.Everynation,everyrace, has notonlyitsowncreative,but
itsowncriticalturnofmind;and is evenmoreobliviousoftheshortcomings
and limitations ofitscriticalhabitsthanofthoseofitscreativegenius.We
know, or think we know,fromtheenormousmassofcriticalwriting thathas
appearedin theFrenchlanguagethecriticalmethodor habitoftheFrench;
we onlyconclude(we are suchunconsciouspeople)thattheFrenchare
'morecritical'thanwe, and sometimes evenplumeourselvesa littlewith
thefact,as iftheFrenchweretheless spontaneous.Perhapstheyare; but
we mightremindourselvesthatcriticism is as inevitableas breathing,and
thatwe shouldbe nonetheworseforarticulating whatpasses in ourminds
whenwe reada bookand feelan emotionaboutit,forcriticizing ourown
mindsin theirworkofcriticism.One ofthefactsthatmightcometo lightin
thisprocessis ourtendency to insist,whenwe praisea poet,uponthose
aspectsofhis workin whichhe leastresemblesanyoneelse. In these
aspectsor partsofhis workwe pretendto findwhatis individual,whatis
thepeculiaressenceoftheman. We dwellwithsatisfaction uponthepoet's
differencefromhis predecessors, especially his immediate predecessors;we
endeavorto findsomething thatcan be isolatedin orderto be enjoyed.
36 Perspecta:The Yale Architectural
Journal,Volume19
0079-0958/82/190036-07 $03.00/0
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Whereasifwe approacha poetwithout thisprejudicewe shalloftenfind
thatnotonlythebest,butthemostindividualpartsofhis workmaybe
thosein whichthedead poets,his ancestors,asserttheirimmortality most
vigorously.And I do not mean the impressionable of
period adolescence,
buttheperiodoffullmaturity.
Yetiftheonlyformoftradition, ofhandingdown,consistedin follow-
ingthewaysoftheimmediate generation beforeus in a blindortimid
adherenceto itssuccesses,'tradition' shouldpositively be discouraged.We
have seen manysuch simplecurrents soonlostin thesand; and noveltyis
betterthanrepetition. Tradition is a matter ofmuchwidersignificance. It
cannotbe inherited, and ifyouwantityoumustobtainitbygreatlabour.It
involves,in thefirst place, thehistoricalsense,whichwe maycall nearly
indispensable anyonewhowouldcontinueto be a poetbeyondhis
to Tradição não pode ser herdada.
year;and thehistoricalsense involvesa perception,
twenty-fifth notonlyof Implica trabalho e o que ele
thepastnessofthepast,butofitspresence;thehistorical sense compelsa chama de sentido histórico.
manto writenotmerelywithhis owngeneration in his bones,butwitha
feelingthatthe whole ofthe literature of Europe from Homerand withinit
thewholeoftheliterature ofhis owncountry has a simultaneous existence
and composesa simultaneous order.This historical sense, whichis a sense
ofthetimelessas wellas ofthetemporaland ofthetimelessand ofthe
temporaltogether, is whatmakesa writer traditional.And it is at thesame
timewhatmakesa writer moreacutelyconsciousofhis place in time,ofhis
owncontemporaneity.
No poet,no artistofanyart,has his completemeaningalone. His
significance,his appreciation is theappreciation ofhis relationtothedead
poets and artists.You cannot value him alone; youmustsethim,for
contrastand comparison, amongthedead. I meanthisas a principleof
aesthetic,notmerelyhistorical, criticism. The necessitythathe shallcon-
form, thathe shall cohere, is not onesided;whathappenswhena newwork
ofartis createdis something thathappenssimultaneously to all theworks
ofartwhichprecededit. The existingmonuments forman ideal order
amongthemselves, whichis modified bytheintroduction ofthenew(the
reallynew) work of art among them. The existing order is completebefore
thenewworkarrives;fororderto persistafterthesupervention ofnovelty,
the wholeexistingordermustbe, ifeverso slightly, altered;and so the
relations,proportions,values of each workof art towardthe whole are
readjusted; and this is conformitybetweenthe old and the new. Whoever
has approved this idea of order,of the formof European, of English
literaturewill not findit preposterousthatthe past should be altered by the
presentas much as the presentis directedby the past. And the poet who is
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ELIOT
awareofthiswillbe awareofgreatdifficulties and responsibilities.
In a peculiarsense he willbe awarealso thathe mustinevitably be
judgedby thestandards ofthe I not
past. sayjudged, amputated, bythem;
notjudgedto be as goodas, orworseor betterthan,thedead; and certainly
notjudgedbythecanonsofdead critics.It is a judgement, a comparison,
in whichtwothingsare measuredbyeach other.To conform merelywould
be forthenewworknotreallyto conform at all; itwouldnotbe new,and
wouldtherefore notbe a workofart.Andwe do notquitesaythatthenew
is morevaluablebecause it fitsin; butitsfitting in is a testofitsvalue-a
test, it is true,which can be and
only slowly cautiouslyapplied,forwe are
noneofus infallible judgesofconformity. We say: it appearsto conform,
and is perhapsindividual,or it appearsindividual,and mayconform; but
we are hardlylikelytofindthatit is one and nottheother.
To proceedto a moreintelligible exposition oftherelationofthepoet
to thepast: he can neithertakethepastas a lump,an indiscriminate bolus,
norcan he formhimself wholly on one or two private admirations,nor can
he formhimselfwhollyupon one preferred period. The firstcourseis
inadmissable,thesecondis an important experienceofyouth,and thethird
is a pleasantand highlydesirablesupplement. The poetmustbe very
consciousofthemaincurrent, whichdoes notat all flowinvariably through
themostdistinguished reputations. He must be quite aware oftheobvious
factthatartneverimproves, butthatthematerialofartis neverquitethe
same. He mustbe awarethatthemindofEurope-the mindofhis own
country-a mindwhichhe learnsin timeto be muchmoreimportant than
his ownprivatemind-is a mindwhichchanges,and thatthischangeis a
development whichabandonsnothingen route,whichdoes notsuperannu-
ate eitherShakespeare,or Homer,or therockdrawingoftheMagdalenian
draughtsmen. Thatthisdevelopment, refinement perhaps,complication cer-
tainly,is not,fromthepointofviewoftheartist,anyimprovement. Perhaps
notevenan improvement fromthepointofviewofthepsychologist or notto
theextentwhichwe imagine;perhapsonlyin theend based upona com-
plicationin economicsand machinery. Butthedifference betweenthe
presentand thepastis thattheconsciouspresentis an awarenessofthe
past in a wayand to an extentwhichthepast'sawarenessofitselfcannot
show.
Someonesaid: 'The dead writers are remotefromus because we know
so muchmorethantheydid.' Precisely, and theyare thatwhichwe know.
I am alive to a usual objectiontowhatis clearlypartofmyprogramme
forthe metierofpoetry. The objectionis thatthedoctrinerequiresa
ridiculousamountoferudition (pedantry), a claimwhichcan be rejectedby
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ELIOT
appeal to thelivesofpoetsin anypantheon.It willevenbyaffirmed that
muchlearningdeadensorperverts While,however,
poeticsensibility. we
persistin believingthata poetoughtto knowas muchas willnotencroach
uponhis necessaryreceptivity and necessarylaziness,it is notdesirableto
confineknowledge towhatever can be putintoa usefulshapeforexamina-
tions,drawing-rooms, or thestillmorepretentious modesofpublicity. Some
can absorbknowledge, themoretardymustsweatforit. Shakespeare
acquiredmoreessentialhistory fromPlutarchthanmostmencouldfromthe
wholeBritishMuseum.Whatis to be insisteduponis thatthepoetmust
developor procuretheconsciousnessofthepastand thathe shouldcon-
tinueto developthisconsciousnessthroughout his career.
Whathappensis a continualsurrender ofhimselfas he is at the
momentto something whichis morevaluable.The progressofan artistis a
continualself-sacrifice,
a continualextinction ofpersonality.
Thereremainsto definethisprocessofdepersonalization and itsrela-
tionto thesense oftradition.It is in thisdepersonalizationthatartmaybe
said to approachthecondition ofscience. I thereforeinviteyouto consider,
as a suggestiveanalogy,the action which takesplace whena bitoffinely
filiatedplatinumis introduced intoa chambercontaining oxygenand sul-
phur dioxide.
HONEST CRITICISM AND SENSITIVE APPRECIATION is directed II
notuponthepoetbutuponthepoetry. Ifwe attendto theconfusedcriesof
thenewspapercriticsand thesusurrusofpopularrepetition thatfollows,we
shall hearthenamesofpoetsin greatnumbers;ifwe seek notBlue-book
knowledgebuttheenjoyment ofpoetry, and ask fora poem,we shallsel-
domfindit. I havetriedto pointouttheimportance oftherelationofthe
poemto otherpoemsbyotherauthors,and suggestedtheconceptionof
poetryas a livingwholeofall thepoetrythathas everbeen written. The
otheraspectofthisImpersonaltheory ofpoetryis therelationofthepoem
to itsauthor.And I hinted,byan analogy,thatthemindofthematurepoet
differsfromthatoftheimmature one notpreciselyin anyvaluationof'per-
not
sonality', beingnecessarily more interesting,or having'moreto say',
butratherbybeinga morefinely perfected mediumin whichspecial,or
veryvaried,feelingsare at libertyto enterintonewcombinations.
The analogywas thatofthecatalyst.Whenthetwogases previously
mentioned are mixedin thepresenceofa filament ofplatinum,theyform
sulphurousacid. This combination takesplace onlyiftheplatinumis
present;neverthelessthenewlyformed acid containsno traceofplatinum,
and theplatinumitselfis apparently unaffected: has remainedinert,neu-
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ELIOT
tral,and unchanged.The mindofthepoetis theshredofplatinum.It may
partlyor exclusively operateupontheexperienceofthemanhimself;but,
themoreperfect theartist,themorecompletely separatein himwillbe the
manwhosuffers and themindwhichcreates;themoreperfectly willthe
minddigestand transmute thepassionswhichare itsmaterial.
The experience,youwillnotice,theelementswhichenterthepres-
ence ofthetransforming catalyst,are oftwokinds:emotionsand feelings.
The effect ofa workofartuponthepersonwhoenjoysit is an experience
differentin kindfromanyexperiencenotofart.It maybe formed outofone
or
emotion, may be a combination ofseveral; and various feelings,inhering
forthewriterin particular wordsorphrasesor images,maybe added to
composethefinalresult.Or greatpoetrymaybe madewithout thedirect
use ofanyemotionwhatever: composedoutoffeelingssolely.CantoXV of
theInferno(Brunetto Latini) a working
is up oftheemotionevidentin the
situation;buttheeffect, thoughsingleas thatofanyworkofart,is obtained
by considerable complexity ofdetail.The lastquatraingivesan image,a
feelingattaching to an image,which'came', whichdid notdevelopsimply
outofwhatprecedes,butwhichwas probablyin suspensionin thepoet's
minduntilthepropercombination arrivedforitto add itselfto. The poet's
mindis in facta receptacleforseizingand storing up numberless feelings,
phrases,images, which remain there untilall the particleswhich can unite
to forma newcompoundare presenttogether.
Ifyoucompareseveralrepresentative passagesofthegreatest poetry
yousee howgreatis thevarietyoftypesofcombination, and also how
completely anysemi-ethical criterionof'sublimity' missesthemark.Forit
is notthe'greatness',theintensity, oftheemotions, thecomponents, butthe
intensity ofthe artistic the
process, pressure, so to speak, under which the
fusiontakesplace, thatcounts.The episodeofPaolo and Francescaem-
ploysa definite emotion,buttheintensity ofthepoetryis something quite
differentfrom whatever intensityin the supposedexperienceitmaygivethe
impression of. It is no moreintense,furthermore, thanCantoXXVI, the
of
voyage Ulysses, which has not the direct dependenceuponan emotion.
Greatvarietyis possiblein theprocessoftransmutation ofemotion:the
murderofAgamemnon, or theagonyofOthello,givesan artisticeffect ap-
parentlycloserto a possibleoriginalthanthescenesfromDante. In the
Agamemnon, theartisticemotionapproximatesto theemotionofan actual
spectator;in Othelloto theemotionoftheprotagonisthimself.Butthe
betweenartand theeventis alwaysabsolute;thecombination
difference
whichis themurderofAgamemnon is probablyas complexas thatwhichis
thevoyageofUlysses.In eithercase therehas been a fusionofelements.
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ELIOT
The ode ofKeatscontainsa numberoffeelingswhichhavenothing particu-
lar to do withthenightingale,butwhichthenightingale, partlyperhaps
because ofitsattractivename,and partlybecause ofitsreputation, served
to bringtogether.
The pointofviewwhichI am struggling to attackis perhapsrelatedto
themetaphysical theoryofthesubstantial unityofthesoul: formymeaning
is thatthepoethas, nota 'personality'to express,buta particularmedium,
whichis onlya mediumand nota personality, in whichimpressions and
experiences combine in peculiarand unexpectedways.Impressions and
experienceswhichare important forthemanmaytakeno place in the
poetry, and those which become important in thepoetrymayplayquitea
negligiblepartin theman,thepersonality.
I willquotea passage whichis unfamiliar enoughtobe regardedwith
in
freshattention thelight-or darkness-of theseobservations:
And nowmethinks I coulde'en chidemyself
Fordoatingon herbeauty,thoughherdeath
Shall be revengedafterno commonaction.
Does thesilkworm expendheryellowlabours
Forthee?Fortheedoesshe undoherself?
Andlordships sold to maintainladyships
Forthepoorbenefit ofa bewildering minute?
Whydoesyonfellowfalsifyhighways,
Andput his lifebetween thejudge'slips,
To refinesucha thing-keepshorseand men
To beattheirvalours forher? . . .
In thispassage (as is evidentifit is takenin itscontext)thereis a combina-
tionofpositiveand negativeemotions:an intensely strongattractiontoward
beautyand an equallyintensefascination bytheuglinesswhichis con-
trastedwithit and whichdestroys it. This balanceofcontrasted emotionis
in thedramaticsituationto whichthespeechis pertinent, butthatsituation
alone is inadequateto it. This is, so to speak,thestructural emotion,
providedby the drama. But the whole effect,the dominant tone,is due to
thefactthata numberoffloating feelings,havingan affinity to thisemotion
byno meanssuperficially evident,havingcombinedwithitto giveus a new
artemotion.
It is notin his personalemotions, theemotionsprovokedbyparticular
eventsin his life,thatthepoetis in anywayremarkable or interesting. His
particular emotions be
may simple, or crude, or The
flat. emotion in his
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ELIOT
poetrywillbe a verycomplexthing,butnotwiththecomplexity oftheemo-
tionsofpeoplewhohaveverycomplexorunusualemotionsin life.One
error,in fact,ofeccentricityin poetryis to seek fornewhumanemotionsto
express; and in thissearch for noveltyin thewrongplace it discoversthe
perverse.The businessofthepoetis notto findnewemotions,butto use
theordinary ones and, in working themup intopoetry, to expressfeelings
whichare notin actualemotionsat all. And emotionswhichhe has never
experiencedwillservehis turnas wellas thosefamiliar to him.Conse-
quently, we mustbelievethat'emotionrecollectedin tranquillity' is an inex-
act formula.Forit is neitheremotion,norrecollection, norwithout distor-
tionofmeaning,tranquillity. It is a concentration,
and a newthingresulting
fromtheconcentration, ofa verygreatnumberofexperienceswhichto the
practicaland activepersonwouldnotseemto be experiencesat all; it is a
concentration whichdoes nothappenconsciouslyorofdeliberation. These
experiences are not 'recollected',and theyfinally in
unite an atmosphere
whichis 'tranquil'onlyin thatit is a passiveattendingupontheevent.Of
coursethisis notquitethewholestory. Thereis a greatdeal, in thewriting
ofpoetry, whichmustbe consciousand deliberate.In fact,thebad poetis
usually unconscious wherehe oughtto be conscious,and consciouswhere
he oughtto be unconscious.Botherrorstendto makehim'personal'.Poetry
is nota turning loose ofemotion,butan escape fromemotion;it is notthe
expressionofpersonality, butan escape frompersonality. But,ofcourse,
only those who have personality and emotionsknow what it meanstowant
to escape fromthesethings.
6 88voii)stOws 0 L67EP
epOv71 KacdaTasE i s(TMLV.
THIS ESSAY PROPOSES TO HALT at thefrontiers ofmetaphysics or
mysticism, and itself
confine to such conclusions
practical as can be ap-
plied bythereasonablepersoninterested in poetry.
To divertinterest
from
thepoetto thepoetryis a laudableaim:foritwouldconduceto a juster
estimation ofactualpoetry,goodand bad. Thereare manypeoplewho
appreciate expression sincereemotionin verse,and thereis a smaller
the of
numberofpeoplewhocan appreciatetechnicalexcellence.Butveryfew
knowwhenthereis an expressionofsignificant emotion,emotionwhichhas
itslifein thepoemand notin thehistory ofthepoet.The emotionofartis
impersonal.And thepoetcannotreachthisimpersonality withoutsurren-
is
deringhimselfwhollyto theworkto be done. And he notlikelyto know
whatis to be doneunlesshe livesin whatis notmerelythepresent,butthe
presentmomentofthepast,unlesshe is conscious,notofwhatis dead, but
ofwhatis alreadyliving.
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