How does T.S. Eliot’s poem about aging differ in tone from factual prose about aging?

The difference in tone between T.S. Eliot’s poetry about aging and factual prose on the same subject is fundamental to the distinction between the two forms of writing.

Factual prose, such as the excerpt from Gordon Rattray Taylor’s The Biological Time Bomb, focuses on the neutral, material, and measurable properties of aging. It presents data—such as the percentage decrease in muscle power or the reduction in brain weight—with an objective, informative intent that does not aim to affect the reader’s emotional state.1

In contrast, T.S. Eliot’s poetry in Four Quartets explores what the process of aging signifies to the individual experiencing it. His tone is one of gravity and solemnity, focusing on the subjective human experience of decline, such as the "conscious impotence of rage" and the "rending pain of re-enactment." While prose describes the biological "falling" of nerve fibers, Eliot uses the same verb to evoke a deeper existential state, describing how "body and soul begin to fall asunder." Ultimately, poetry seeks to engage the reader’s sense of experience, whereas prose seeks to inform through objective measurement.1