"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"
- Lascelles Abercrombie
About this Quote
Lascelles Abercrombie is suggesting that all poets have a tradition of matter and design that they bring into play when developing their works. However, for the epic poet, this tradition is more limited and restrictive. This is due to the fact that the impressive poet is expected to comply with specific conventions and expectations that have been developed by the genre. This consists of making use of specific styles, characters, and narrative structures. By adhering to these conventions, the epic poet is able to develop a work that is both familiar and appealing to their audience. This is why the custom of the impressive poet is more narrow and engaging than that of other poets.
"Monty Python crowd; half of them came from Cambridge, and half of them came from Oxford. But, there seems to be this jewel, this sort of two headed tradition of doing comedy, of doing sketches, and that kind of thing"
"I don't really know of the Jewish tradition of comedy, only the Jewish tradition of not keeping your mouth shut. Complaining about all that is hard, unfair or ridiculous in life-having strong feelings, and not being able to suppress them. That, to me, is Jewish"
"Jackass: The Movie is great. I think it's in the tradition of physical comedy, which I'm really interested in. Its relationship to gravity, and how gravity acts on the body"
"I say it is indispensable to look ahead of and behind oneself in the present. If there is such a thing as tradition, and I believe there is, it can only exist in the sense of the most profound movements of culture"
"Miles Davis fully embraced possibilities and delved into it. He was criticized heavily from the jazz side. He was supposed to be part of a tradition, but he didn't consider himself part of a tradition"
"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around"
