Vastness of the universe
Grandeur of astronomical science



BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.


DANTE.

A.D. 1265-1321.

RISE OF MODERN POETRY.


The first great genius who aroused his country from the torpor of
the Middle Ages was a poet. Poetry, then, was the first influence
which elevated the human mind amid the miseries of a gloomy period,
if we may except the schools of philosophy which flourished in the
rising universities. But poetry probably preceded all other forms
of culture in Europe, even as it preceded philosophy and art in
Greece. The gay Provencal singers were harbingers of Dante, even
as unknown poets prepared the way for Homer. And as Homer was the
creator of Grecian literature, so Dante, by his immortal comedy,
gave the first great impulse to Italian thought. Hence poets are
great benefactors, and we will not let them die in our memories or
hearts. We crown them, when alive, with laurels and praises; and
when they die, we erect monuments to their honor. They are dear to
us, since their writings give perpetual pleasure, and appeal to our
loftiest sentiments. They appeal not merely to consecrated ideas