Read it through once

The question of the function of criticism, when stated in its most general terms, is an abstruse one. It is possible to make it intelligible by converting it into a concrete question: What are the duties of the critic in relation to the existing literature of his own language and to living poets? There are, I think, three main duties that arise under this head. The first duty is to a tradition; the second is to the artist; the third is to the public. These three obligations are not distinct departments; they overlap and criticize one another. The primary relation of criticism is to the past; the primary relation of the critic is to the existing literary tradition. The critic must be faithful to the tradition, and yet he must be able to perceive what is living in the present and to welcome it. He must remember that the responsibility of maintaining a tradition is not merely historical but also ethical and aesthetic. The critic is a guardian of the literary inheritance, but this guardianship must not become a fossilizing authority.