What Wallace took from Emerson that the beautiful rests on the foundations of the necessary the poet’s fidelity to his office to the announcement and affirmation of the beauty of things
All form is an effect of character all condition of the quality of life The soul is the form that makes the body : the beauty of a rose is not arbitrary it is the embodiment of a truth and only as such does it enter our spiritual world and love is the higher beauty to which our human souls necessarily aspire
He who in his later years attended Longfellow’s funeral and muttered : « That gentleman was a sweet beautiful soul but I have entirely forgotten his name »
He who at the age of thirty had called on Coleridge in Highgate and described him as a short stout old man with bright blue eyes and a fine clear complexion and noted his addiction to snuff of which during the visit he partook freely presently soiling his cravat and his neat black suit
The poet is the sayer the namer of things without impediment
A poem by one who knows and tells with thoughts passionate and alive so that its spirit has an architecture of its own
The shadow of this world felt and lived by the palpable soul by the other me that lies deep within
vocal with speech the energies of action and the energies of thought experience transformed into eloquence and wisdom at least that is the desire all fear dissipated fear of being oneself
life moments culled from the air by the angel of wisdom thoughts of the mind raised and transfigured truth incorruptible the ebb and flow of the sea desire and satisfaction day and night all nature in undulation from mulberry leaf to the finest silk
thought is function character above intellect to observe the demands of our task to catalogue the stars of the human mind
One of the seminal essays on the central role of poetry in society was written by the American poet and lecturer, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). In his essay, entitled simply “The Poet,” and published in 1844, Emerson passionately defends not only the poet’s artistic vocation but places poetry at the heart of cultural life. His central thesis is that human society is incomplete if it lacks cultural expression: “For all men live by truth, and stand in need of expression.” Man is only half himself, the other half is his expression; words are actions, actions are words!
By extrapolation, Emerson’s arguments can be applied to all forms of artistic expression including music, theatre and the plastic arts. The artist is representative not of his individual wealth but of the commonwealth. Below, is an edited extract from Emerson’s essay, the complete text of which can be accessed at http://www.bartleby.com/5/110.html. It follows from this that poetry, and the arts in general, should be central to the curriculum of young people and should be given pride of place in our schools.
The poet (an adapted extract)
The poet is the sayer the namer and represents beauty He is a sovereign and stands at the centre
For the world is not painted or adorned but is from the beginning beautiful Beauty is the creator of the universe Criticism is infested with a cant of materialism which assumes that manual skill and activity is the first merit of all men and disparages such as say and do not overlooking the fact that some – namely poets – are natural sayers sent into the world to express
The poet does not wait for the hero or the sage but as they act and think primarily so the poet writes primarily what will and must be spoken
For poetry was all written before time was and whenever we are so finely organized that we can penetrate into that region where the air is music we hear those primal warblings
Poets of more delicate ear write down these cadences and these transcripts though imperfect become the songs of nations For nature is as truly beautiful as it is good or as it is reasonable and must as much appear as it must be done or be known
Words and deeds are quite indifferent modes of universal energy Words are also actions and actions are a kind of words
johnjosephlyons 