"The bad poet is usually unconscious where he ought to be conscious, and conscious where he ought to be unconscious"

This quote by T. S. Eliot is a commentary on the quality of bad poetry. Eliot is suggesting that bad poets are frequently unaware of the aspects of poetry that must be knowingly thought about, such as the structure, rhyme, and meter of a poem. At the exact same time, they are extremely mindful of aspects that need to be delegated the unconscious, such as the feeling and sensation of the poem. Eliot is indicating that bad poets lack the ability to effectively stabilize the mindful and unconscious components of poetry, leading to a poem that is not as efficient as it could be. This quote is a pointer to poets to be mindful of the mindful and unconscious components of their work, and to pursue a balance between the two.