Hinc alitur porro nostrum genus atque ferarum, Hinc laetas urbes pueris florere videmus, Frondiferasque novis avibus canere undique silvas[58]. Or we see the waters of a river lost in the sea and returning through the earth to their original source, and again flowing in a fresh stream along the channel first formed for them-- Inde super terras fluit agmine dulci Qua via secta semel liquido pede detulit undas[59]. Under the same law the earth is seen to be the parent of all things and their tomb (v. 259); the sea, which loses its substance through evaporation and the subsidence of its waters, is found to be ever renewed by its native sources and the abundant tribute of rivers (v. 267; i. 231; vi. 608); the air is ever giving away and receiving back its substance; the sun ('liquidi fons luminis'), moon, and stars, are ever losing and ever renewing their light. The day on which the 'long-sustained mass and fabric of the world' will pass away, leaving only void space and the viewless atoms, is destined to come suddenly through the termination of this long balanced warfare:-- Denique tantopere inter se cum maxima mundi Pugnent membra, pio nequaquam concita bello, Nonne vides aliquam longi certaminis ollis Posse dari finem? vel cum sol et vapor omnis Omnibus epotis umoribus exsuperarint; Quod facere intendunt, neque adhuc conata patrantur[60]. (3) It is to be observed, also, how vividly Lucretius realises and how steadfastly he keeps before his mind the ideas of the eternity and infinity of the primordial atoms and of space. These conceptions support him in his antagonism to the popular religion, and deepen the feeling with which he contemplates human life and Nature. Our world of earth, sea, and sky is only one among infinite other systems. It stands to the universe in much the same proportion as any single man to the whole earth-- Et videas caelum summai totius unum Quam sit parvula pars et quam multesima constet Nec tota pars, homo terrai quota totius unus[61]. It was the glory of Epicurus that he first passed beyond the empyrean that bounds our world-- Atque omne immensum peragravit mente animoque[62]. The immensity of the universe is incompatible with the constant agency and interference of the gods,-- Quis regere immensi summam, quis habere profundi Indu manu validas potis est moderanter habenas[63]. This negative idea is, at least, a step in advance towards a higher conception of the attributes of Deity. The infinity and complexity of the universe protest against the limited and divided powers, as the natural feelings of human nature protest against the moral qualities attributed to the gods of the Pagan mythology. The power of these conceptions is also seen in the poet's deep sense of the littleness of human life. Such pathetic expressions of the shortness and triviality of each man's mortal span, as that,-- Degitur hoc aevi quodcumquest[64],