A lot missing from poetical sweeping story (4)

I believe the answer is:

epic

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'story' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Heroic story' mean 'epic' so perhaps 'story' could also mean 'epic')

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for epic that I've seen before include "eg The Iliad" , "Long story telling of a hero's deeds" , "Long poem set in nice picture" , "Long adventure story" , "Large in scale" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times.

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