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I just wonder how interesting a biography could be without the inclusion of history. I think most biographies are entirely historical i.e. the lives of real-life, important and famous people; and well, even if their subjects are living (bio), their lives are still chronoligically narrated in retrospect - as a history. call it personal, but a history nonetheless. Now, about the epic, I think you've hit the nail on its head but somehow bent it by landing the hammer too hard; some epics could indeed be seen as biographies of nations - Pan Tadeuz, Shahnameh, the Aeneid - but their subject matter is not limited to a 'body of legend'. In a modernist example, in H.D's 'Trilogy', you'll find neither nationalism nor an acceptance of mythology - but plenty of personal history and private spirituality. Winning of the West may or may not be a 'proper' subject for a nationalist American epic, but i doubt it'd make for a particularly interesting one wihtin the postmodern - Darn it partner, I've got the news on the TV if I'm into watching Amercian cowboys invade and ravage the rest of the planet; I don't need poetry for that. Ali ---- Original Message ---- From: Erminia Passannanti Date: Tue 11/13/01 5:12 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: biographical poetry - you mean History? Therefore: The Epics of America (not the biography of America).... "or else narrative poetry". From the Merriam - Webster Dictionary Epics: a series of events or body of legend or tradition thought to form the proper subject of an epic <the winning of the West was a great American epic> Have I expandend my point? with love, Erminia