The thing that the modern reader and critic find so difficult, when confronted by a great poet, is to accept him. To realise what he is saying, to believe he means what he says, to admit that what he says matters---all this is disquieting. It is more comfortable to explain him away, with his meaning and his greatness and his power. Despite all our surface liking for toughness and violence, ours is a timid generation, wincing at decision and envious of other men's conclusions.
(Dorothy L. Sayers, Introductory Papers on Dante, page xviii)