In 1978, he said, "I wrote the Epitaph at a time when all the intellectual movements around the world were creating diversions from tradition … as a fortification of our national, racial identity through purely folklore metres."
On je 1978. rekao: „Napisao sam Epitaf u vreme kada su svi intelektualni pokreti širom sveta pravili zaokret od tradicije… kao ojačanje našeg nacionalnog i rasnog identiteta, kroz potpuno folklorna merila.“