For
the extension of its length epic poetry has a special advantage, of
which it makes large use. In a play one cannot represent an action
with a number of parts going on simultaneously; one is limited to the
part on the stage and connected with the actors. Whereas i.e.ic
poetry the narrative form makes it possible for one to describe a
number of simultaneous incidents; and these, if germane to the
subject, increase the body of the poem. This then is a gain to the
Epic, tending to give it grandeur, and also variety of interest and
room for episodes of diverse kinds. Uniformity of incident by the
satiety it soon creates is apt to ruin tragedies on the stage. (2) As
for its metre, the heroic has been assigned it from experience; were
any one to attempt a narrative poem in some one, or in several, of the
other metres, the incongruity of the thing would be apparent. The
heroic; in fact is the gravest and weightiest of metres--which is what
makes it more tolerant than the rest of strange words and metaphors,
that also being a point in which the narrative form of poetry goes
beyond all others.
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