t.s. eliot as conservative mentor
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44 THEINTERCOLLEGIATEREVIEWFall2003/Spring2004
Roger Scruton
T.S.EliotasConservativeMentor
RogerScrutonwasafellowofPeterhouse,Cambridge
UniversityandaReader inPhilosophyatBirkbeck
College,UniversityofLondon.Amonghismostrecent
books areEngland:AnElegy(2000)andTheWestand
theRest(ISIBooks,2002).
T. S. Eliot was indisputably the greatestpoet writing in English in the twentieth
century.Hewas alsothemostrevolution-
aryAnglophoneliterarycriticsinceSamuel
Johnson,andthemostinfluentialreligious
thinkerintheAnglicantraditionsincethe
Wesleyanmovement.His social andpoliti-
cal vision is contained inall his writings,
andhas beenabsorbedandreabsorbedby
generationsofEnglishandAmericanread-
ers,uponwhomitexertsanalmostmystical
fascinationevenwhentheyaremoved,as
many are, to reject it.Without Eliot, thephilosophyofToryismwouldhavelostall
substanceduringthelastcentury.Andwhile
not explicitly intending it, Eliot set this
philosophyonahigherplaneintellectu-
ally,spiritually,andstylisticallythanhas
everbeenreachedbytheadherents ofthe
socialist idea.
Eliot attempted to shape aphilosophy
forourtimes thatwouldbericherandmore
truetothecomplexityofhumanneeds than
thefree-marketpanaceas thathavesooften
dominatedthethinkingofconservativesin
government.Heassignedacentral placein
his social thinking tohighculture.Hewas
athoroughtraditionalistinhis beliefs but
anadventurousmodernistinhis art,hold-
ing artisticmodernism and social tradi-
tionalismtobedifferentfacetsofacommon
enterprise.Modernisminartwas,forEliot,
an attempt to salvage and fortify a living
artistictraditioninthefaceofthecorrup-
tionanddecayofpopularculture.
Eliot was born inStLouis,Missouri, in1888, and educated at Harvard, the
Sorbonne, and Merton College,Oxford,
where he wrote a doctoral thesis on the
philosophy of F. H. Bradley, whose
Hegelian visionof society exerted apro-
foundinfluenceoverhim.Hecame,asdid
somanyeducatedAmericansofhis genera-
tion,fromaprofoundlyreligious andpub-
lic-spiritedbackground,althoughhis earlypoems suggestableakanddespairing ag-
nosticism, which he only gradually and
painfullyovercame. In 1914hemet Ezra
Pound, who encouragedhim to settle in
England.Hemarriedduring thefollowing
year,whichalsosawthepublicationofhis
firstsuccessfulpoem,TheLoveSongofJ.
AlfredPrufrock.This work,togetherwith
theothershortpoems thatwerepublished
along withitasPrufrockandOtherObserva-
tionsin1917,profoundlyalteredthecourse
of English literature. They were the first
trulymodernistworks inEnglish,although
themostvisibleinfluencesontheirimagery
anddictionwerenotEnglishbutFrench
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T.S.EliotasConservativeMentorbyRogerScruton
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Londonbank,andtheninthepublishing
houseofFaberandFaber,whichhemade
intotheforemostpublisherofpoetryandcriticisminits day.His unhappyfirstmar-
riagedidnotimpedehis activeparticipa-
tion in the literary life of London, over
whichheexertedaninfluenceeverybitas
greatas AndrBretonovertheliterarylife
ofParis.
His refusal,throughall this,toadoptthe
mantleofthebohemian,toclaimthetinsel
crown of artist, or to
mock the bourgeois
lifestyle, sets him apart
fromthecontinental tra-
ditionwhichheotherwise
didsomuchtopromote.
Herealised thatthetrue
task of the artist in the
modernworldis onenot
ofrepudiationbutofrec-
onciliation.ForEliot,the
artist inherits, inheight-
ened and self-conscious
form,theverysameanxi-
eties thatarethestuffofordinaryexperi-ence.Thepoetwho takeshiswords seri-
ouslyis thevoiceofmankind,interceding
forthosewholivearoundhim,andgaining
on their behalf the gift of consciousness
withwhichtoovercomethewretchedness
ofsecularlife.Hetooisanordinarybour-
geois,andhis highestprizeis toliveunno-
ticedamidstthosewhoknownothingofhis
artas thesaintmayliveunnoticedamong
thoseforwhomhedies.
Tofindth
er
ootsofEliotspoliticalt
hin
k-ing,wemustgobacktothemodernismthat
foundsuchstrikingexpressioninTheWaste
Land.Englishliteratureintheearlypartof
thetwentiethcenturywastoagreatextent
capturedbypre-modernimagery,byrefer-
ences toaformoflife(suchas wefindin
ThomasHardy)thathadvanishedforever,
andbyverseforms whichderivedfromthe
repertoireofromanticisolation.Ithadnot
undergone that extraordinary education
whichBaudelaire and his successors had
imposedupontheFrenchinwhichanti-quatedforms likethesonnetwerewrenched
freeoftheirpastoral andreligious conno-
tations andfittedoutwiththelanguageof
themoderncity,inordertoconveythenew
andhallucinatory senseof an irreparable
fault,wherebymodernmanisdividedfrom
all thathas precededhim.Eliots admira-
tionforBaudelairearosefromhis desireto
write verse that was as
truetotheexperienceof
the modern city as
Baudelaires hadbeento
the experience of Paris.
Eliot also recognized in
Baudelairethenewchar-
acterofthereligious im-
pulse under the condi-
tionsofmodernlife:The
important fact about
Baudelaire,hewrote,is
thathe was essentially a
Christian,bornoutofhis
duetime,andaclassicist,bornoutofhisduetime.
Eliots indictmentoftheneo-romantic
literatureofhis daywas notmerelyaliter-
ary complaint.Hebelieved thathis con-
temporariesuseof worn-outpoeticdic-
tionandlilting rhythms betrayedaserious
moral weakness:afailuretoobservelifeas
itreallyis,afailuretofeel whatmustbefelt
towards theexperiencethatis inescapably
ours.And this failure isnotconfined,he
believed, to lite
r
atur
e,bu
trun
s thr
ou
gh
thewholeofmodernlife.Thesearchfora
new literary idiom is therefore part of a
larger searchfor the reality ofmodern
experience.Onlythencanweconfrontour
situationandaskourselves whatshouldbe
doneabout it.
Eliots deepdistrustofsecularhuman-
ismandof the socialistanddemocratic
ideasofsocietywhichhebelievedtostem
T.S. Eliot, 1888-1965
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traditionofbelief,ofbehavior,andofhis-
toricalallegiance,thatwillgivesenseand
meaningtothecommunity.Therealsig-nificanceofareligionlies less intheabstract
doctrinethanintheinstitutionswhichcause
ittoendure.Itlies alsointhesacraments
andceremonies, inwhich theeternalbe-
comes presentandwhatmighthavebeen
coincides withwhatis.
ForEliot,therefore,conversionwas notamattermerelyofacknowledgingthetruth
ofChrist.Itinvolvedaconscious gestureof
belonging,wherebyheunitedhis poetical
labors withtheperpetual laboroftheAn-
glicanchurch.FortheAnglicanchurchis
peculiar in this: that ithasneverdefined
itself as protestant, that it has always
soughttoacceptratherthanprotestagainst
its inheritance,whileembracing thedaring
belief that the truths ofChristianityhave
beenofferedinalocalformtothepeopleof
England.Itis achurchwhichtakes its his-
torical nature seriously, acknowledging
that its duty is less to spread the gospel
amongmankindthantosanctifyaspecificcommunity.Andinordertofititselfforthis
role,theAnglicanchurchhas,throughits
divines and liturgists, shaped the English
languageaccording totheChristianmes-
sage,whilealsobringing thatmessageinto
the here and now of England. In Little
Gidding,thelastoftheFourQuartets,the
poetfindshimselfinthevillageretreatwhere
anAnglicansainthadretiredtopraywith
his family.Heconveys whattomanyis the
etern
altru
th
ofth
eAn
glican
con
fession
,in
lines which are among themost famous
thathaveeverbeenwritteninEnglish:
Ifyoucamethisway,
Taking anyroute,starting fromanywhere,
Atanytimeoratanyseason,
Itwouldalwaysbethesame:youwouldhavetoput
off
Senseandnotion.Youarenotheretoverify,
Instructyourself,orinformcuriosity
Orcarryreport.Youareheretokneel
Whereprayerhas beenvalid.Andprayerismore
Thananorderofwords,theconsciousoccupation
Oftheprayingmind,orthesoundofthevoice
praying.
Andwhatthedeadhadnospeechfor,whenliving,
Theycantellyou,beingdead:thecommunication
Ofthedeadis tonguedwithfirebeyondthelan-
guageoftheliving.
Here,theintersectionofthetimelessmoment
IsEnglandandnowhere.Neverandalways.4
Later,returning tothis themeofcommuni-
cationwiththedeadourdeadandre-
ferring tothosebriefmoments ofmeaning
whicharetheonlysuregiftofsensibility,Eliotcompletesthethought:
Wearebornwiththedead:
See,theyreturn,andbring us withthem.
Themomentoftheroseandthemomentofthe
yew-tree
Areofequalduration.Apeoplewithouthistory
Isnotredeemedfromtime,forhistoryis apattern
Oftimelessmoments.So,whilethelightfails
Onawintersafternoon,inasecludedchapel
Historyis nowandEngland.5
Much has been written about LittleGidding,theatmosphereofwhichstays in
themindof every cultivated Englishman
whoreads it.Whatis important,however,
is less theatmosphereofthepoemthanthe
thought which advances through it. For
hereEliotachieves thatforwhichheenvies
Dantenamely,apoetryofbelief,inwhich
beliefandwords areone,andinwhichthe
thought cannot be prized free from the
controlledandbeautiful language.More-
over, there is one influence throughout
whichisinescapabletheKingJamesBible,
andtheAnglican liturgythatgrewalong-
sideit.Withoutbeing consciouslybiblical,
and whileusing onlymodern and collo-
quialEnglish,Eliotendows his versewith
theauthorityofliturgy,andwiththereso-
nanceoffaith.
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THEINTERCOLLEGIATEREVIEWFall2003/Spring2004 53
Theselinestakeusbacktothecorebeliefofmodern conservatism, which Burke ex-pressedinthefollowing terms:Society,he
wrote,is indeedacontract;butnotacon-
tractamong the living only;rather,itis a
partnershipbetween the living, thedead,
andthoseyettobeborn.And,heargued,
only those who listen to thedead are fit
custodians of future generations. Eliots
complextheoryoftraditiongives senseand
form to this idea. For he
makes clear that themost
importantthing thatfuture
generationscaninheritfrom
us is ourculture.Cultureis
therepositoryofanexperi-
encewhich is atonce local
and placeless, present and
timeless,theexperienceofa
communityas sanctifiedby
time. This we can pass on
only if we too inherit it.
Therefore,wemustlistento
thevoices of thedead,and
capturetheirmeaning inthosebrief,elu-sivemomentswhenHistory isnowand
England.Inareligious community,such
moments areapartofeverydaylife.Forus,
inthemodernworld,religionandculture
areboth tobe gained through a workof
sacrifice.But it is a sacrificeupon which
everything depends.Hence,byanextraor-
dinaryroute,themodernistpoetbecomes
the traditionalist priest: and the stylistic
achievement of the first is one with the
spir
itu
alach
ievem
entoft
heseco
nd.Tomanypeople,Eliots theoryofcul-
tureandtraditionis tooarduous,impos-
ing animpossibledutyupontheeducated
elite.Toothers,however,ithasbeenavital
inspiration. For let us ask ourselvesjust
what is required of one who knows.
Shouldhe, in themodern world,devote
himself likeSartreor Foucault tounder-
miningthestructuresofbourgeoissoci-
ety,toscoffing atmanners andmorals,and
ruiningtheinstitutionsuponwhichhede-
pendsforhisexaltedstatus?ShouldheplaythepartofamodernSocrates,questioning
everything andaffirming nothing?Should
he go along with themindless cultureof
play,thepost-modernistfantasyworldin
whichall ispermittedsinceneitherpermis-
sionnorinterdictionhaveanysense?
Toansweryes toanyofthosequestions is
ineffecttolivebynegation,tograntnothing
to human life beyond the
mockeryofit.Itis toinaugu-
rate and endorse the new
world of transgression, a
worldwhichwillnotrepro-
duceitself,sinceitwillunder-
minetheverymotivewhich
causesasocietytoreproduce.
Theconservativeresponseto
modernity is to embrace it,
buttoembraceitcritically,in
fullconsciousnessthathuman
achievements are rare and
precarious,thatwehaveno
God-givenrighttodestroyourinheritance,butmust always patiently submit to the
voiceoforderandsetanexampleoforderly
living.Thefutureofmankind,fortheso-
cialist, is simple: pull down the existing
order,andallowthefuturetoemerge.But
itwill notemerge,as weknow.Thesephi-
losophies ofthenewworldare lies and
delusions, products of a sentimentality
whichhas veiledthefactsofhumannature.
Wecandonothingunlesswefirstamend
our
selves.Th
etaskistor
ediscover
th
ewor
ldwhichmadeus,toseeourselves as partof
something greater,whichdepends uponus
forits survivalandwhichstillcanlivein
us, if we can achieve that condition of
completesimplicity/(Costing notless than
everything),towhichEliotdirects us.
Weshall notceasefromexploration
Andtheendofallourexploring
Will betoarrivewherewestarted
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T.S.EliotasConservativeMentorbyRogerScruton
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Andknowtheplaceforthefirsttime.
Such
is th
econ
servativemessageforourtime.Itis amessagebeyondpolitics,ames-
sageofliturgicalweightandauthority.But
it is amessagewhichmustbereceived,if
humaneandmoderatepolitics is toremain
a possibility.
1.ForLancelotAndrewes(London:Faber,1970[1929]),
20.
2.TheUseofPoetryandtheUseofCriticism(Cam-bridge:HarvardUniversityPress,1886[1961]),22.
3.FourQuartets,inT.S.Eliot,TheCompletePoems
andPlays (London:FaberandFaber,1969),182.
4.FourQuartets,192.
5.FourQuartets,197.
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