The human race as a whole has grown, has developed, has matured, like one of ourselves.

It was once a child, it was once a man; we are now looking on at its impressive old age.

Before the epoch which modern society has dubbed "ancient," there was another epoch which the ancients called "fabulous," but which it would be more accurate to call "primitive." Behold then three great successive orders of things in civilization, from its origin down to our days.

Now, as poetry is always superposed upon society, we propose to try to demonstrate, from the form of its society, what the character of the poetry must have been in those three great ages of the world--primitive times, ancient times, modern times.
In primitive times, when man awakes in a world that is newly created, poetry awakes with him.

In the face of the marvellous things that dazzle and intoxicate him, his first speech is a hymn simply.