Epic Poetry Exhibits Life In

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.

If Epic Poetry Is A Definite Species, The Sagas Do Not Fall Within It.

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 World Knows Of A Vast Stock Of Epic Material Scattered Up And Down The Nations; Sometimes Its Artistic Value Is As Extraordinary As Its Archaeological Interest, But Not Always.

Poetry Is The Work Of Poets, Not Of Peoples Or Communities; Artistic Creation Can Never Be Anything But The Production Of An Individual Mind.