But The Gravest Difficulty, And Perhaps The

The First Epics Were Intended For Recitation; The Literary Epic Is Meant To Be Read.

No Poet Will Ever Take The Written Word As A Substitute For The Spoken Word; He Knows That It Is On The Spoken Word, And The Spoken Word Only, That His Art Is Founded.

The Epic Poet Has Behind Him A Tradition Of Matter And A Tradition Of Style; And That Is What Every Other Poet Has Behind Him Too; Only, For The Epic Poet, Tradition Is Rather Narrower, Rather More Strictly Compelling.

Epic Poetry Exhibits Life In Some Great Symbolic Attitude. It Cannot Strictly Be Said To Symbolize Life Itself, But Always Some Manner Of Life.

The Balance Of Private Good And General Welfare Is At The Bottom Of Civilized Morals But The Morals Of The Heroic Age Are Founded On Individuality, And On Nothing Else.