tailieunhanh - Lecture Literary criticism - Lecture 31: Dissociation of sensiblity

Eliot’s concept of the “unification of sensibility” is standing for his preference for the metaphysical poets. And”dissociation of sensibility” for his antipathy for Milton’s poetry and the poetry of the Victorians. Yet it is not enough to dismiss these concepts, for they bear a direct relationship with Eliot’s concept of poetry. These two phrases occur in his essay on metaphysical poets in whose poetry there existed a unification of sensibility and after them a dissociation of sensibility sets in. | DISSOCIATION OF SENSIBLITY Eliot’s concept of the “unification of sensibility” is standing for his preference for the metaphysical poets. And”dissociation of sensibility” for his antipathy for Milton’s poetry and the poetry of the Victorians. Yet it is not enough to dismiss these concepts, for they bear a direct relationship with Eliot’s concept of poetry. These two phrases occur in his essay on metaphysical poets in whose poetry there existed a unification of sensibility and after them a dissociation of sensibility sets in. The word “sensibility”, which is the key word in the essay. It occurs several time in the essay. It is not exactly defined as such by Eliot; perhaps he feltthe meaning came out clearly from its usein the different context. One can indeed form a fairly clear idea about its significance and gather that it is not merely feeling nor is it merely is not some kind of sensation which excludes thoughts, as Bateson seems to suggest Sensibility is | DISSOCIATION OF SENSIBLITY Eliot’s concept of the “unification of sensibility” is standing for his preference for the metaphysical poets. And”dissociation of sensibility” for his antipathy for Milton’s poetry and the poetry of the Victorians. Yet it is not enough to dismiss these concepts, for they bear a direct relationship with Eliot’s concept of poetry. These two phrases occur in his essay on metaphysical poets in whose poetry there existed a unification of sensibility and after them a dissociation of sensibility sets in. The word “sensibility”, which is the key word in the essay. It occurs several time in the essay. It is not exactly defined as such by Eliot; perhaps he feltthe meaning came out clearly from its usein the different context. One can indeed form a fairly clear idea about its significance and gather that it is not merely feeling nor is it merely is not some kind of sensation which excludes thoughts, as Bateson seems to suggest Sensibility is a physical totality, which works on emotions as upon sensations, upon thoughts ,as upon feelings. It is an amalgamation of thoughts and feelings of intellect and emotion:it includes sensitiveness, intelligence, but is not just any one of them. The unification of sensibility, results in a good poetry. Though Eliot does not make a judgement in so many words, the judgement is implied. The unified sensibility is one in which the poetic sensibility is composite, in which thought and feeling are the same, and intellect has blended with passion. It enables the poet to respond to heterogeneous experience in a unified way. It could assimilate disparate material and transmit it into new wholes, ordered, unified wholes,in other words into good poetry. It is what helps the poet confronts the world(of thoughts feeling, idea and emotion) as immediately as the odor of the rose the essence of this quality is the ability to feel thoughts , to experience it as just as much reality as the noise of the .