Patrick Kavanagh

"Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind
He said: I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance."

- 'Epic' by Patrick Kavanagh

Kavanagh wrote this poem discussing a "local row" as he calls it, between two Irish farmers in a rural area, arguing over a tiny piece of land, each declaring it their own. Kavanagh compares it to the "Munich bother", i.e. the 1938 Munich conference and concludes that art is made great not by the subject matter, but by the artist, thus the somewhat arrogant reference to himself as one of the "Gods" of literature. Despite that, I like the idea of making your own importance, (even if we all might not be considered "Gods" by Kavanagh!), forging your own path. You can make your mark on the world even if what you have to say might not seem significant.