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. – Lascelles Abercrombie
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. – Lascelles Abercrombie
If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it. – Lascelles Abercrombie
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. – Lascelles Abercrombie
When I was in the Peace Corps I never made a phone call. I was in Central Africa I didnt make a phone call for two years. I was in Uganda for another four years and I didnt make a phone call. So for six years I didnt make a phone call, but I wrote letters, I wrote short stories, I wrote books. – Paul Theroux