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T. S. Eliot

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Student Question

What does T.S. Eliot mean by "the poet is the least poetical of beings" in "Tradition and the Individual Talent"?

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T.S. Eliot's assertion that "the poet is the least poetical of beings" in "Tradition and the Individual Talent" emphasizes that the poet's personal emotions and experiences are irrelevant to their work. Eliot argues that poetry should be an "escape from emotion" and "personality," focusing on the art itself rather than the individual. He believes the poet's life does not need to be extraordinary for their poetry to be impactful, as art is impersonal and alters the existing artistic canon.

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In his essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent," what T. S. Eliot says about the poet being the least poetical of beings links to his idea that it’s not the person that’s important but their poetry.

Near the end of his essay, Eliot states, “It is not in his personal emotions, the emotions provoked by particular events in his life, that the poet is in any way remarkable or interesting.” For Eliot, the first-hand human experiences of the poet don’t matter because it’s inconsequential how the poet feels or expresses their emotions For Eliot, poetry is an “escape from emotion” and "personality.” A poet can live an overtly dull life and still create keen poetry if they’re skilled at utilizing “ordinary” emotions and “working them up into poetry.” In Eliot’s essay, the poetry is separate from the poet because the “emotion of art is impersonal”—it's not about the person.

The objectivity of art relates to Eliot’s ideas about how a new work of art changes the values and judgments of art. Once again, Eliot’s focus is on the work itself and not on the person creating the work. The individual beliefs of the person aren’t as important as the body of art they’re imparting to the already established canon. Once a new work enters the system, the “whole existing order must be, if ever so slightly, altered” since the arrangement has to adapt to this new addition. As with poet and their poetry, the artist and the art they contribute are separate.

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