T.S. Eliot was an innovator in 20th century poetry who rejected Romantic conventions. He believed that the act of creation should be impersonal and objective. Eliot used the "objective correlative", a set of objects capable of conveying emotion, and drew from various sources and references both domestic and foreign. As a style innovator, Eliot displayed complex states of mind using only a few selected words, quotations that viewed literature as an ongoing dialogue between past and present, and images from different cultures. His poetry used obscure, symbolic and juxtaposed elements with shifting tones and breaks from chronological order. Common themes in his work included the contrast of fertility and sterility, alienation, sense

1. T. S. Eliot An innovator in 20th C poetry

2. He rejected all
Romantic conventions

3. His art was impersonal
❖ The act of creation should be
distant from any personal
involvement

4. The objective
correlative
A set of objects capable of conveying a
certain emotion.
The main difference between Eugenio
Montale and Eliot lies in the references
and the associations that are domestic in
the former and more various in the latter
appealing to different sources.

5. A style innovator
❖ A display of a few selected words capable of expressing
complex states of mind
❖ The use of quotations because the poet saw literature as
a continuous flux, a dialogue between past and present
❖ The use of images taking inspiration from different
cultures, including even popular traditions and
customs.

6. ❖ Sentences become utterances and even sighs
❖ Punctuation tends to be missed
❖ Archaism are linked to neologism
❖ A marked sense of musicality
❖ The tragic is deflated by irony and cynicism
❖ The commonplace is next to the squalid
❖ Tone changes due to the mood
❖ The break of any chronological order
❖ Allusion, juxtaposition and associations of images seem to drive the reader
❖ A sort of obscure poetry
❖ Symbolism as a clue to understand his art
❖ A large display of poetic forms from fixed ones to free verse

7. Themes
❖ The contrast between fertility
and sterility
❖ Alienation
❖ Sense of loss
❖ Melancholy
❖ Blend of past and present : he
was convinced that the authors
of the classical world were
'giants'
❖ Fear for a nightmarish future