This paper explores the pivotal role of T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) as the primary architect and leading practitioner of the Modernist movement in English poetry. His contributions stem from a radical redefinition of poetic expression and critical standards, specifically his call for poetic depersonalization. Moving past the subjective emotionalism of the nineteenth-century Romantics, Eliot claims that “poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion”. This critical stance is functionally realized through his concept of the “objective correlative” which demands that internal emotion be expressed indirectly via a precise, externalized “set of objects, a situation, or a chain of events”. Eliot avoids merely stating despair; instead, he constructs an external, sensory world that compels the reader to experience the desolation themselves. This emphasis on indirect, sensory, and intellectualized expression is the cornerstone of his Modernist legacy. By analyzing the “objective correlative” as a sophisticated extension of Imagist principles in his two renowned poems, this study reveals how Eliot uses concrete sensory formulas to achieve a depersonalized but profoundly resonant aesthetic. While Eliot’s “The Waste Land” relies on a “heap of broken images” and an array of symbolic personae to mediate emotion, his “Four Quartets” adopts a more direct, meditative voice, allowing Eliot to portray society through a lens that is simultaneously realistic and deeply religious. Consequently, this paper concludes that Eliot’s mastery of intertextuality and stylistic evolution ensures his continued relevance as the preeminent figure in the Modernist literary tradition.