--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Traditional matter must be glorified…" description: "\"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..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_creation_traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-sin_2805813.png" --- # Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be… ![“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.” quote by Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_creation_traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-sin_2805813.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_creation_traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-sin_2805813.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_creation_traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-sin_2805813.png) > “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. 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. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Creation Tired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation-tired-3483536/) [Easier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easier/) [Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Familiar Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar-stories-3483537/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Listeners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listeners/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed/) [Needed Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed-poetry-3483534/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Remember Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-needed-1253380/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Tired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tired/) [Traditional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traditional/) [Traditional Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traditional-matter-3483535/) [Unexpected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unexpected/) [Unexpected things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unexpected-things/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [I like works about familiar stories, where one spins the point of view and looks at it from another angle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schwartz/i-like-works-about-familiar-stories-where-one-spins-the-point-of-view/) [Stephen Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schwartz/) > [“The only problem with that was that it made me remember why I’d needed to jack off so badly. 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Even for people like us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariko-tamaki/the-world-is-full-of-unexpected-things-even-for-people-like-us/) [Mariko Tamaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariko-tamaki/) > [Life is nothing without unexpected things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/life-is-nothing-without-unexpected-things/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [We are just a difference! You see your horoscope every day! Ihad forgotten to write my horoscope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/we-are-just-a-difference-you-see-your-horoscope-every-day-ihad/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/of-all-the-unexpected-things-in-contemporary-literature-this-is-among/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Love and life are both important, but together! Different and does not use any of](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/love-and-life-are-both-important-but-together-different-and-does-not/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Thinking to give up your food, (\_ I do not know how many people received food or not \_) sensitivity to the final climax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/thinking-to-give-up-your-food-i-do-not-know-how-many-people-received/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [The Lamp light show Opposing sun and a disgruntled person are equal to explain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/the-lamp-light-show-opposing-sun-and-a-disgruntled-person-are-equal/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Nobody knows, what will be happen, with his personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/nobody-knows-what-will-be-happen-with-his-personality/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [She would consider each day a miracle - which indeed it is, when you consider the number of unexpected things that could happen in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/she-would-consider-each-day-a-miracle-which-indeed-it-is-when-you/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by Lascelles Abercrombie > [The epic poet has behind him a tradition of matter and a tradition of style; and that is what every other poet has behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-epic-poet-has-behind-him-a-tradition-of-matter-and-a-tradition-of/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [No poet will ever take the written word as a substitute for the spoken word; he knows that it is on the spoken word,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/no-poet-will-ever-take-the-written-word-as-a-substitute-for-the/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [The world knows of a vast stock of epic material scattered up and down the nations; sometimes its artistic value is as extraordinary as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-world-knows-of-a-vast-stock-of-epic-material-scattered-up-and/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [But the development of human society does not go straight forward; and the epic process will therefore be a recurring process, the series a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/but-the-development-of-human-society-does-not-go-straight-forward-and/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [An epic is not made by piecing together a set of heroic lays, adjusting their discrepancies and making them into a continuous narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/an-epic-is-not-made-by-piecing-together-a-set-of-heroic-lays/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/epic-poetry-exhibits-life-in-some-great-symbolic-attitude-it-cannot/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [But the gravest difficulty, and perhaps the most important, in poetry meant solely for recitation, is the difficulty of achieving verbal beauty, or rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/but-the-gravest-difficulty-and-perhaps-the-most-important-in-poetry/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [The reason can only be this: heroic poetry depends on an heroic age, and an age is heroic because of what it is, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-reason-can-only-be-this-heroic-poetry-depends-on-an-heroic-age/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [The balance of private good and general welfare is at the bottom of civilized morals but the morals of the Heroic Age are founded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/the-balance-of-private-good-and-general-welfare-is-at-the-bottom-of/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [How to tell students what to look for without telling them what to see is the dilemma of teaching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/how-to-tell-students-what-to-look-for-without-telling-them-what-to/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [That is to say, epic poetry has been invented many times and independently; but, as the needs which prompted the invention have been broadly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/that-is-to-say-epic-poetry-has-been-invented-many-times-and/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/with-several-different-kinds-of-poetry-to-choose-from-a-man-would/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/if-epic-poetry-is-a-definite-species-the-sagas-do-not-fall-within-it/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff of epic material into unity; and that is, an ability to see in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/there-is-only-one-thing-which-can-master-the-perplexed-stuff-of-epic/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) > [It is more difficult to keep the attention of hearers than of readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/it-is-more-difficult-to-keep-the-attention-of-hearers-than-of-readers/) [Lascelles Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) [Explore all 23 Lascelles Abercrombie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/) ## More Creation quotes > [“am not suggesting that successes in academics, athletics, or vocation somehow stand outside God’s good plan. Learning and play are joys that God himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-paul-jones/am-not-suggesting-that-successes-in-academics-athletics-or-vocation/) [Timothy Paul Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-paul-jones/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. I see a planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/like-many-other-scientists-who-hold-the-catholic-faith-i-see-the/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [I believe if there is a creator it will basically ask me two questions, how well did you enjoy my creation and what did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-believe-if-there-is-a-creator-it-will-basically-ask-me-two/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [With no other choices open to us, we'd turned our gaze seaward. The oceans were our America: they reached farther than any prairie, untamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carsten-jensen/with-no-other-choices-open-to-us-we-d-turned-our-gaze-seaward-the/) [Carsten Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carsten-jensen/) > [In the quiet moments of your day, what do you think and do? When you are with your Self and no one else, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/in-the-quiet-moments-of-your-day-what-do-you-think-and-do-when-you/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The creation lives as genesis beneath the visible surface of the work. All intelligent people see this after the fact, but only the creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-creation-lives-as-genesis-beneath-the-visible-surface-of-the-work/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-are-trying-to-live-a-life-in-accordance-with-the-bible-the/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [I think that storytelling and creation are very close to what the center of what magic is about. I think not just for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-think-that-storytelling-and-creation-are-very-close-to-what-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [To be part of the creation, I must act humbly. I'll take that over a goddess any day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-o-hara/to-be-part-of-the-creation-i-must-act-humbly-i-ll-take-that-over-a/) [Maureen O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-o-hara/) > [The country of Iraq is somewhat of an artificial creation going back to colonial days. And so you have the Kurds and then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clapper/the-country-of-iraq-is-somewhat-of-an-artificial-creation-going-back/) [James Clapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clapper/) [Browse all 5,225 Creation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lascelles Abercrombie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-since-it-would-be-easier-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-since-it-would-be-easier-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_creation_traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-sin_2805813.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_creation_traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-sin_2805813.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/lascelles-abercrombie-25442_creation_traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-sin_2805813.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Traditional matter must be glorified, since it would be easier to listen to the re-creation of familiar…” — Lascelles Abercrombie", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lascelles Abercrombie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lascelles-abercrombie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Traditional matter must be glorified, since...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-since-it-would-be-easier-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lascelles-abercrombie/traditional-matter-must-be-glorified-since-it-would-be-easier-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```