Iam really struggling with this, if i could get some understanding this that would be great. using a dictionary and the methods described at the beginning of the “advanced reading skills” lesson, provide a “translation” of eliot’s paragraph. in a peculiar sense he will be aware also that [the poet] must inevitably be judged by the standards of the past. i say judged, not amputated, by them; not judged to be as good as, or worse or better than, the dead; and certainly not judged by the canons of dead critics. it is a judgment, a comparison, in which two things are measured by each other. to conform merely would be for the new work not really to conform at all; it would not be new, and would therefore not be a work of art. and we do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value–a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity. we say: it appears to conform, and is perhaps individual, or it appears individual, and may conform; but we are hardly likely to find that it is one and not the other.

Question

I am really struggling with this, if I could get some help understanding this that would be great.

Using a dictionary and the methods described at the beginning of the “Advanced Reading Skills” lesson, provide a “translation” of Eliot’s paragraph.  

In a peculiar sense he will be aware also that [the poet] must inevitably be judged by the standards of the past. I say judged, not amputated, by them; not judged to be as good as, or worse or better than, the dead; and certainly not judged by the canons of dead critics. It is a judgment, a comparison, in which two things are measured by each other. To conform merely would be for the new work not really to conform at all; it would not be new, and would therefore not be a work of art. And we do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value–a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity. We say: it appears to conform, and is perhaps individual, or it appears individual, and may conform; but we are hardly likely to find that it is one and not the other.

this question is not school related. refrain from asking non school or academic related questions in the future.

both are bitter over their mistake