Harold Bloom - The Anxiety Of Influence. A Theo... 99%

Bloom outlines six specific ways (or "ratios") that a new poet twists the work of a predecessor to make it their own:

An act of self-emptying where the poet breaks with the precursor’s influence to seem independent. Harold Bloom - The Anxiety of Influence. A Theo...

The poet "completes" the precursor’s work, suggesting the original didn't go far enough. Bloom outlines six specific ways (or "ratios") that

Total originality is a myth; all poems are "inter-poems" written in response to others. Harold Bloom - The Anxiety of Influence. A Theo...

Harold Bloom’s (1973) revolutionized literary criticism by suggesting that poets do not find inspiration in their predecessors, but rather engage in a subconscious struggle against them. 🧠 The Core Concept

Eliot’s insistence on "impersonality" was a defensive reaction (Kenosis) against the Romantic focus on the self.

Wordsworth "swerved" from Milton’s epic style to focus on the individual's internal nature.