The whole story of the novel up till / just before the epilogue in just two lines of XXX (poet's name),
I feel that up till and just before doesn't work here. Would you please give me the appropriate word instead? And which punctuation mark do I use after the poet's name? After that I'll write two lines from one of his odes.
Thanks.
".
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As I've understood what you've written, this might be said, for example, as:
The whole story of the novel, up to the epilogue, can be summarized in two lines from the poet, _____ : "..........".
sundarnazup till / just before
You can use either of these. I would use until in this case because till has another definition https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/till#british-1-2-1