In the main, neither Christian nor pagan will be attracted by Horace.
The Christian will see in his gracious resignation only the philosophy
of despair, and in his light humors only careless indulgence in the
vanities of this world and blindness to the eternal concerns of life.
The pagan will not appreciate the delicacy of his art, and will find the
abundance of his literary, mythological, historical, and geographical
allusion, the compactness of his expression, and the maturity and depth
of his intellect, a barrier calling for too much effort. Both will
prefer Virgil--Virgil of "arms and the man," the story-teller, Virgil
the lover of Italy, Virgil the glorifier of Roman deeds and destiny,
Virgil the readily understood, Virgil who has already drawn aside, at
least partly, the veil that hangs before the mystic other-world, Virgil
the almost Christian prophet, with the almost Biblical language, Virgil
the spiritual, Virgil the comforter.
Horace will not be popular. He will remain the poet of the few who enjoy
the process of thinking and recognize the charm of skillful expression.
Tacitus and Juvenal esteem him, the Emperor Alexander Severus reads him
in leisure hours, the long list of mediocrities representing the course
of literary history demonstrate by their content that the education of
men of letters in general includes a knowledge of him.
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