Lascelles Abercrombie Quotes

A collection of quotes by Lascelles Abercrombie.

Lascelles Abercrombie (1881-1938) was a British poet and literary critic who played a significant role in the development of Modernist poetry. Born in Ashton-upon-Mersey, England, Abercrombie pursued his education at the University of Manchester where he studied history and philosophy. He worked as a journalist and teacher before devoting himself to writing poetry.

Abercrombie's poetry reflected his uneasy relationship with modernity, themes of industrialization, and the impact of the First World War. He published several collections of poems, including "Interludes and Poems" (1908), "Emblems of Love" (1912), and "The Sale of Saint Thomas" (1911), among others. His mystical and philosophical poetry blends traditional verse forms with innovative imagery and metaphysical themes.

As a literary critic, Abercrombie authored notable works such as "The Idea of Great Poetry" (1925) and "Thomas Hardy: A Critical Study" (1912), which were well-received and praised for their insightful analysis. He was associated with the Georgian poets, a group that sought to revive traditional poetic forms and focused on nature and beauty.

Abercrombie's writing, although often overshadowed by his contemporaries such as T.S. Eliot and W.B. Yeats, offered a distinctive voice that captured the complexities of modern existence while adhering to traditional poetic structures. His contribution to the development of British poetry during the early 20th century remains noteworthy, making him an important figure of the Modernist movement. Abercrombie passed away in London in 1938 at the age of 57.

The Border Ballads, for instance, and the Robin Hood Ballads

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.

Lascelles Abercrombie

If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall

If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it.

Lascelles Abercrombie

With several different kinds of poetry to choose from, a man

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

There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff

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.

Lascelles Abercrombie

But the development of human society does not go straight fo

But the development of human society does not go straight forward and the epic process will therefore be a recurring process, the series a recurring series - though not in exact repetition.

Lascelles Abercrombie

Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. I

Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.

Lascelles Abercrombie

The reason can only be this: heroic poetry depends on an her

The reason can only be this: heroic poetry depends on an heroic age, and an age is heroic because of what it is, not because of what it does.

Lascelles Abercrombie

But the gravest difficulty, and perhaps the most important,

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

That is to say, epic poetry has been invented many times and

That is to say, epic poetry has been invented many times and independently but, as the needs which prompted the invention have been broadly similar, so the invention itself has been.

Lascelles Abercrombie

Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be easi

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.

Lascelles Abercrombie

The balance of private good and general welfare is at the bo

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.

Lascelles Abercrombie

Poetry is the work of poets, not of peoples or communities a

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

Lascelles Abercrombie

By the general process of epic poetry, I mean the way this f

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