The Strain of Romanticism in the Poetry of T.S. Eliot

Abstract

In many of his critical writings, T.S .Eliot claims to be a votary of classicism. This
claim notwithstanding, there are strains of romanticism in his poetry as well as in
his essays. The present study is directed to highlight this ambivalence with
reference to Eliot’s critical essays as well as his poetry. The terms ‘classicism’ and
‘romanticism’ are too frequently used in the study of literature. There is also a
tradition to classify certain periods in the history of English literature as Classical
or Romantic. This classification is misleading because no period or poet can claim
to be wholly in the tradition of classicism or romanticism. They are two different
tendencies which are simultaneously traceable in the writings of an artist, though
not in equal proportion. Eliot’s leanings towards romanticism are manifest in all
his poems, especially in Four Quartets.