This essay is a talk that T.S.Eliot took at the radio for German audience. The main statement is that English is the richest language for the purpose of writing poetry. It doesn't mean that England has produced the greatest poets or amount of poetry but that is the more suitable for poetry because it has the largest vocabulary.

English shows a variety of elements because of its linguistic foundation that incorporated: Germanic foundation, Scandinavian elements, Danish, Norman French (used in court), Anglosaxon (used by poor people), Latin (used by lawyer and clergy) and the language spoken by the Celts. English language is also rich in its rhythmic variety.

The first restatement that T.S.Eliot presents is that English is a good language for poetry because it is derived from so many linguistic sources so English allowed more people to understand. T.S.Eliot says more than ones that England has not necessarily produced the greatest poets in fact the writer introduces an Italian poet, Dante, comparing him to Milton and Shakespeare.

People usually think that only one country excels in a particular form of art for example Italy and France in painting, Germany in music and England in poetry; but this is not correct because any kind of art has ever been the exclusive possession of anyone country of Europe in additions there have been periods in which some other country than England has been the major influence in poetry.

The writer goes on saying that a nation which leads in a particular form of art during a particular period does not necessarily produce the greatest artists. At this point of the essay T.S.Eliot provides an example: Romantic movement was a great period in England but no English poet contemporary with Wordsworth can enter into comparison with Goethe at all.

No European nation would have accomplished what it has if other countries had not developed the same form of art. This ability depends on two factors: the assimilation of influence from abroad and the learning of the ancient cultures like the Roman, Greece and Israel.