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.

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

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.

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.