Examine T.S Eliot's views on the nature of the poetic process in the light of his arguments on behalf of 'impersonality' and 'unified sensibility" of the poet.
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T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) has been called "by far the most important critic of the twentieth century in the English-speaking world." He is above all a critic of poetry and drama; he is not much interested in the novel. Eliot does not write any systematic treatise explaining his theory of poetry; it is expounded in a number of books and essays written through many years, interspersed with practical criticism or other speculations on culture. Moreover, Eliot denies having an aesthetic theory, he claims to suspect thinking abstractly about poetics. He seems to have a genuine conviction that ultimate questions are beyond the reach of the intellect, and that any attempt to define poetry is bound to failure. Eliot distrusts any criticism that aspires to a scientific knowledge of its subject:
The true critic is a scrupulous avoider of formulae: he refrains from statements which pretend to be literally true. He finds fact nowhere and approximations always. His truths are the truths of experience rather than of calculation.
In his essay on The Function of Criticism he tells us that writing, according to the “inner voice”, means writing as one wishes. He rejects romantic subjectivism, and emphasises the value of objective standards.