"If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it." ― Lascelles Abercrombie Topic(s): Funny More From Lascelles Abercrombie "Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be easier to listen to the re-creation of familiar stories than to quite new and unexpected things; the listeners, we must remember, needed poetry chiefly as the re-creation of tired hours." "Poetry is the work of poets, not of peoples or communities; artistic creation can never be anything but the production of an individual mind." "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." More In Funny "If you work at comedy too laboriously, you can kill what’s funny in the joke."― Richard Russo "I got a lot of support from my parents. That’s the one thing I always appreciated. They didn’t tell me I was being stupid; they told me I was being funny."― Jim Carrey "A word to the wise ain’t necessary – it’s the stupid ones that need the advice."― Bill Cosby