Difference between William Wordsworth and T.S. Eliot

Both Wordsworth and T.S. Eliot are major figures in English literature. Wordsworth was the pioneer of the Romantic age while T.S. Eliot was an earlier poet of the modernist tradition. Eliot has great contributions in the field of literary criticism. Eliot was a fan of classicism. Wordsworth, on the other, was a fan of romanticism. This difference of opinion between the two poets also created a difference between their works. Wordsworth died a long time ago, even before T.S Eliot started writing. There is a gap of about one hundred years between the two poets. So, there was no chance for Wordsworth to counter the criticism of T.S. Eliot. 

Regarding classicism, Eliot believed that Classicism is an integral part of literature, and one should take the best concepts of classical literature and create new literary products. Hence, he was in support of following major poets like Shakespeare and Milton. He thought that it was not possible for someone to create something new without following these poets. On the contrary, Wordsworth was against classicism.

According to Wordsworth, the literature did not talk about ordinary people or nature. Even literature does not have the language of ordinary men. Instead of supporting classicism, Wordsworth started a new movement called Romanticism. Romanticism not only focused on nature but also the use of imagination. Wordsworth gave a lot of emphasis on the use of imagination, but T. S. Eliot was against it. He said that having an imagination is not a bad thing but too much use of imagination degrades poetry. He wanted to follow the classical poets. One should read the works of the classical poets and follow their style. So, we see a difference of opinion between the two poets. With the use of logic, T.S Eliot showed why people should shun Wordsworth’s ideals. He tried to say, directly and indirectly, that one cannot produce good literature following the ideals of Wordsworth. If someone wants to become a poet, he or she should study the classical poets and understand their styles and then create his own poetry.

However, Wordsworth said that one does not need to know what the other poets did or did not. One should first go close to nature and then gain experience and create literature from the emotions that emerge in his heart due to that experience. Here, we do not see any connection with classical literature, but Eliot was all about Classicism. So, Wordsworth did not focus much on historical events or matters in his poetry. He did not use Roman or Greek mythology in his work. We do not even see any influence of famous poets like Shakespeare and Milton in his work.