
The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism
Studies in the Relation of Criticism to Poetry in England
T. S. Eliot(Author)
Harvard University Press
Published on 1. July 1986
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-0-674-93150-3 (ISBN)
Description
The 1932-33 Norton Lectures are among the best and most important of T. S. Eliot's critical writings. Tracing the rise of literary self-consciousness from the Elizabethan period to his own day, Eliot does not simply examine the relation of criticism to poetry, but invites us to "start with the supposition that we do not know what poetry is, or what it does or ought to do, or of what use it is; and try to find out, in examining the relation of poetry to criticism, what the use of both of them is."
Eliot begins with the appearance of poetry criticism in the age of Dryden, when poetry became the province of an intellectual aristocracy rather than part of the mind and popular tradition of a whole people. Wordsworth and Coleridge, in their attempt to revolutionize the language of poetry at the end of the eighteenth century, made exaggerated claims for poetry and the poet, culminating in Shelley's assertion that "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of mankind." And, in the doubt and decaying moral definitions of the nineteenth century, Arnold transformed poetry into a surrogate for religion.
By studying poetry and criticism in the context of its time, Eliot suggests that we can learn what is permanent about the nature of poetry, and makes a powerful case for both its autonomy and its pluralism in this century.
Eliot begins with the appearance of poetry criticism in the age of Dryden, when poetry became the province of an intellectual aristocracy rather than part of the mind and popular tradition of a whole people. Wordsworth and Coleridge, in their attempt to revolutionize the language of poetry at the end of the eighteenth century, made exaggerated claims for poetry and the poet, culminating in Shelley's assertion that "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of mankind." And, in the doubt and decaying moral definitions of the nineteenth century, Arnold transformed poetry into a surrogate for religion.
By studying poetry and criticism in the context of its time, Eliot suggests that we can learn what is permanent about the nature of poetry, and makes a powerful case for both its autonomy and its pluralism in this century.
Reviews / Votes
The most influential critic of the twentieth century reconsiders the English critical tradition. This book is central to the Modernist remapping of literary history. -- David PerkinsMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
none
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
249 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-93150-3 (9780674931503)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
1. Introduction 2. Apology for the Countness of Pembroke 3. The Age of Dryden 4. Wordsworth and Coleridge 5. Shelley and Keats 6. Matthew Arnold 7. The Modern Mind 8. Conclusion