Lascelles Abercrombie Poetry Quotes

“

The reason can only be this: heroic poetry depends on an heroic age, and an age is heroic because of what it is, not because of what it does.

“

Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.

“

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.

“

Poetry is the work of poets, not of peoples or communities artistic creation can never be anything but the production of an individual mind.

“

With several different kinds of poetry to choose from, a man would decide that he would like best to be an epic poet, and he would set out, in conscious determination, on an epic poem.

“

By the general process of epic poetry, I mean the way this form of art has constantly responded to the profound needs of the society in which it was made.

“

If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it.

“

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.

“

Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be easier to listen to the re-creation of familiar stories than to quite new and unexpected things the listeners, we must remember, needed poetry chiefly as the re-creation of tired hours.

Lascelles Abercrombie quotes on other topics

Poetry quotes by other authors

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What did Lascelles Abercrombie say about Poetry?

Lascelles Abercrombie has written many quotes about Poetry. E.g.,

The reason can only be this: heroic poetry depends on an heroic age, and an age is heroic because of what it is, not because of what it does.
Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.
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.

What are the top most famous Poetry quotes by Lascelles Abercrombie?

Here are the top most famous quotes about Poetry by Lascelles Abercrombie.

The reason can only be this: heroic poetry depends on an heroic age, and an age is heroic because of what it is, not because of what it does.
Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.
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.
Poetry is the work of poets, not of peoples or communities artistic creation can never be anything but the production of an individual mind.
With several different kinds of poetry to choose from, a man would decide that he would like best to be an epic poet, and he would set out, in conscious determination, on an epic poem.
By the general process of epic poetry, I mean the way this form of art has constantly responded to the profound needs of the society in which it was made.
If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it.
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.
Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be easier to listen to the re-creation of familiar stories than to quite new and unexpected things the listeners, we must remember, needed poetry chiefly as the re-creation of tired hours.

▲