Poetry's Social Function

TS Elliot wrote “I think it’s important that every people should have its own poetry, not simply for those who enjoy poetry, but because it actually makes a difference to the society as whole. That means to people who do not enjoy poetry, unless people go on producing great authors and especially great poets, their language and culture will deteriorates and perhaps become absorbed in a stronger one.” I think his assertion maybe over generalized. I agree that poetry does in fact have some sort of social benefits that it allows people to learn the classic literature and their old way of using perfectly accurate grammatical speeches. However, it is too much of an assertion to say that people who do not end up being great authors may in the end causing our language and culture to deteriorate. In some form or another our culture and language are slowly engulf and overwhelmed by the increasing profanity and slangs that seems to dominate in current pop music and movies. Our society may end up rotten this way. However the purpose of writing is to express one’s inner feeling and voice to the world. If the author finds that only through swearing can best express his or her feeling and ideas, we shouldn’t be stopping them.