they represent life in action. They
are very largely objective; they por-
tray events, conditions, and deeds
which have passed beyond the stage
of thought and have involved the
thinker in the actual historical world
of vital relationships and dramatic
sequence. The lyric poet may sing,
if it pleases him, like a bird in the
recesses of a garden, far from the
noise and dust of the highway and
the clamour of men in the competi-
tions of trade and work; but the
epic or dramatic poet must find his
theme and his inspiration in the stir
and movement of men in social rela-
tions. He deals, not with the subjec-
tive, but with the objective man;
with the man whose dreams are no
longer visions of the imagination,
but are becoming incorporate in
some external order; whose passions

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p239 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p240w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p241

v?