impersonal theory of poetry

According to this theory, proposed by T.S. Eliot in "Tradition and the Individual Talent," poetry should not simply be the emotional expression of the poet's personality. Like a catalyst in a chemical reaction, the mind of the poet should neither be affected by nor be mixed into the final product: the poem. The concept objective correlative comes out of this theory. The mind of the mature poet will be able to use ordinary emotions in new combinations to give rise to meaningful poetry: "The emotion of art is impersonal. And the poet cannot reach this impersonality without surrendering himself wholly to the work to be done." Another poet to include in this theory is Wallace Stevens, who often thought that poetry should not glorify or express opinion but look for "what will suffice" and say what people need to hear.