Question

According to Eliot, what ensures that a poet’s work is significant?

• A. Its reflection of universal truths within a tradition
• B. Its originality, separate from any literary tradition
• C. Its adherence to the poet’s personal feelings
• D. Its commercial success

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Its reflection of universal truths within a tradition

Tradition represents a simultaneous order, a historical timelessness, and a fusion of past and present. A poet must embody the whole of literature from the past and simultaneously express his contemporary environment.