Creation Quote by 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.”
About This Quote
Source Poem: “The Poetry of Tradition”, 1915
The poet argues that familiar, traditional poetry is more comforting to listeners than novel, unexpected works, suggesting a preference for the known.
In simple terms: People often prefer familiar poetry over new forms.
Key Takeaway
Value tradition to engage audiences.
Themes
tradition
comfort
audience
poetry
Mood
reflective
thoughtful
Type
critical
analytical
When to use this quote
- classroom teaching
- public readings
- literary criticism
- publishing decisions
Key Concepts
conservatism
nostalgia
accessibility
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do audiences cling to familiar narratives?
- How can new poetry be made more accessible?
A Different Perspective
Innovation can be stifled by overreliance on tradition.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
