There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff of epic material into unity; and that is, an ability to see in particular human experience some significant symbolism of man's general destiny.
LIFE · VERIFIED · EN
Lascelles Abercrombie Quote
“Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.”
0
Source: Quotables — alvations/Quotables (CC0 1.0 dataset)
Attribution status: verified · Publication status: cleared
Explore more quotes attributed to Lascelles Abercrombie or browse life quotes.
If you believe this quote is incorrectly attributed or should be removed, see Copyright and quote corrections.
Related verified quotes
But the gravest difficulty, and perhaps the most important, in poetry meant solely for recitation, is the difficulty of achieving verbal beauty, or rather of making verbal beauty tell.
An epic is not made by piecing together a set of heroic lays, adjusting their discrepancies and making them into a continuous narrative.
The Border Ballads, for instance, and the Robin Hood Ballads, clearly suppose a state of society which is nothing but a very circumscribed and not very important heroic age.
The first epics were intended for recitation; the literary epic is meant to be read.
That is to say, epic poetry has been invented many times and independently; but, as the needs which prompted the invention have been broadly similar, so the invention itself has been.