It is extremely difficult to judge justly and without prejudice the
literature of one's own time. So many different elements are pouring
into it that it assumes a composite character, far beyond the power of
definition or even of epigram to describe as a whole. But, while this is
true, it is nevertheless possible to select from this vast amalgam
certain particular elements, and to examine them and judge them fairly.
The field in which we are now wandering may be properly included under
the head of ancient literature, although in another sense it is the most
modern of all. The two authors whom we shall consider in this lecture,
although they have come into our literature but recently, yet represent
very ancient thought. There is nothing whatsoever that is modern about
them. They describe bed-rock human passions and longings, sorrowings
and consolations. Each may be claimed as a revival of ancient paganism,
but only one of them is capable of translation into a useful idealism.