I
"At thy coming, O goddess, the winds take flight, and the clouds retire....
HE
"For thee the earth scatters the scent of her flowers, for thee laugh the waves of the deep...."
I
Lucretius is now but lightly valued among men. He is held immoral, having spoken of love without hypocrisy and of death without illusions.
HE
Yes, he knew too many things wounding to your childish sensibility.
I
I remember a sentence of Bossuet, a sentence that implies a scorn of antiquity: "As soon as the cross began to appear in this world, all that men used to adore on the earth was buried in oblivion. The world opened its eyes and was astonished at its ignorance...."