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SKETCHES. 367
And if any body hereafter should ask me, “ What is to
come after the novel?” I intend answering: “ The day of
judgment.”
But who can answer for, that after the day of judgment
a new evolution of an entirely new romantic literature and
new novels shall not take its beginning? This seems very
probable.
TIIE ROMANCE, THE EPOS OF OUR DAY.
ApAm OFHLENSCHLAGER has said truly and to the point,
“The romance is the Epos of our day,” and although
learned men have proved that the ancient Greek Epos is
not strictly an heroic poem, not the same as the epopee,
still they grant that the “ Epos ” is a narrative of actions or
occurrences in which one person is the principal figure,
who therefore becomes the hero or heroine of such a narra- .
tive.
A German scholar says that the distinguishing character-
istic of the heroic poem is, “that it contains what interests
all mankind.” But so does every narrative which tends to
the honor of humanity. The ancient “Epos,” and its
younger brother the romance, appear thus both to come
so near the heroic poem, that they may lay claim to its
title, honor, and dignities. The hero of the modern epic
poem is quite different from that of the ancients, and his
life and achievements are measured by a different standard.
The hero of the ancient “ Epos” is, generally, a gladiator,
who conquers by means of assassinations and cunning, and
who slays a great number of people. He is handsome,
brave, fortunate, and his grand achievements consist in
battles. But the hero of romance is, above all men, the
feeling, thinking, moral man, in his struggle with the world
on his road to the goal which his genius points out to him.
The ancient “ Epos ” knows only a few human beings, and
they are the favorites of the gods; they are the great and
gifted oes upon earth. All the rest of mankind is merely
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