In earlier times they had no statistics and so they had to fall back on lies. Hence the huge exaggerations of primitive literature, giants, miracles, wonders! It's the size that counts. They did it with lies and we do it with statistics: but it's all the same.
The Victorians needed parody. Without it their literature would have been a rank and weedy growth, over-watered with tears.
In Canada we have enough to do keeping up with two spoken languages ... so we just go right ahead and use English for literature, Scotch for sermons, and American for conversation.
The classics are only primitive literature. They belong to the same class as primitive machinery and primitive music and primitive medicine.
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