World literature v-1

Аннотация

In his letters dating from the second century AD, the Roman orator and statesman Pliny the Younger wrote of finding solace in poetry as a means to embrace the uncertainties of life and to accept, albeit reluctantly, the inevitability of death. ‘‘Literature,’’ he said, ‘‘is both my joy and my comfort: it can add to every happiness and there is no sorrow it cannot console.’’ The poet took refuge in his work and sought to communicate to others the depth of his emotion and the expanse of his intellect. It is through literature that we embrace our potential and acknowledge our limitations, and it was undoubtedly this presence of mind and spirit that forged the first attempts at literary expression and that continues in our own time to define the essence and value of artistic endeavor.