Laudator Temporis Acti

Lucretius 4.453-461 (tr. A.E. Stallings):

Further, when sleep has tightly bound our limbs in sweet repose,
And the whole frame lies in deepest peace, we nonetheless suppose
That we are wide awake, our limbs astir, and that our sight
Beholds the light of day there in the inky black of night.
We think we trade our ceiling for the sky, our cramped room yields
To rivers, mountains, sea, we seem to stride across the fields
And to hear voices, though the night holds everything spellbound
In its grave silence; we seem to speak, but do not make a sound.

denique cum suavi devinxit membra sopore
somnus, et in summa corpus iacet omne quiete,
tum vigilare tamen nobis et membra movere        455
nostra videmur, et in noctis caligine caeca
cernere censemus solem lumenque diurnum,
conclusoque loco caelum mare flumina montis
mutare et campos pedibus transire videmur,
et sonitus audire, severa silentia noctis        460
undique cum constent, et reddere dicta tacentes.