life experience They made any thought into strong poetry Both heart and mind worked together Their poems felt rich and alive This skill gave their poetry power Donne s Unique Sensibility John Donne is Eliot s main example His poetry closely connects mind and emotion When Donne thought he also felt deeply His ideas were not just cold thoughts Eliot proves this when he says A thought to Donne was an experience it modified his sensibility This quote shows Donne lived his thoughts His feelings changed with every new idea He never separated thought from emotion Donne s poetry was full of life and energy Every metaphor and image had a feeling inside Eliot calls this true poetic intelligence Donne s way makes poems rich and interesting His ability brings poetry closer to the reader s life Later Poets Became More Reflective Eliot notes that later poets such as Tennyson and Browning underwent significant changes They only used thought not feeling Their poetry became too cold and distant Eliot shows this clear difference He writes They think but they do not feel their thought as immediately as the odour of a rose This quote supports his argument These poets lost the mix of mind and heart Their poetry became dry not alive or strong Mixing Experiences in Early Poetry Eliot admires early poets skill in mixing They could blend many things in a poem Thoughts pictures and feelings came together in harmony Their work had no hard boundaries Eliot gives proof by saying When a poet s mind is perfectly equipped for its work it is constantly amalgamating disparate experience This means their poetry felt wide and open They took new ideas and unified them with emotion Early poems were exciting and always fresh Later poets lost this kind of unity Their writing turned dry and narrow Poetry lost layers of meaning and color The Shift Called Dissociation Eliot describes a huge change in poetry Early poets successfully combined thought and emotion Later poets began to separate them Eliot calls this split a special name He says In the seventeenth century a dissociation of sensibility set in from which we have never recovered This quote is the central object in his essay After this poets became mostly thinkers Deep feelings left poetry s core The old balance was lost for good Eliot wants his readers to see this loss In termination Eliot s essay compares two groups of poets Old poets joined heart and mind well New poets only used the mind Eliot s supporting quotes show this change clearly He teaches why strong poetry needs both feeling and thinking His ideas still guide poetry students today