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.

It is more difficult to keep the attention of hearers than of readers.

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

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.

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

The first epics were intended for recitation; the literary epic is meant to be read.

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