New-York tribune., 1842-03-07
THE TRIBUNE.


poyT the nature and oi'ices Of Poetrr, r,ana the
part IN the Times It plays and IS likely I" pla;E-
we're the high topic of Mr.. Emerson Lecture on
Saturday evening. He SAID ne heped none would
fear 1hat IN what ne had to say he should losser
,hs. dignity OF Poetry; MOI need am apPrchend
,t,a, Cri,jcism would seize this rnouutain-f'o"er
and pick i, to pieces Tor it! nature is not 10 D.
reached By cri,ic,r1-i, Is beyond it Criticism
may ie US anecdotes Of Poetry AID Aff,h7 ~
rnphv does OF men, but neither can 'ouch ui's III,
t,re. the nner#i,. OF it, subject we iish q
Poetry a OF the angel that SITS upon 't 'los' ~
accessible cF;; in the midst OF surrounding hefar
chics; upon il hands were never laid.
IN .e.k;ng for that we kno".of Poetry we ind
:, .,o..ol;tarv fact and it is infcrtwined with
me oa,,r, 81 all things that casyte -ePa-
r.tc t.,il saw whatzit Is Our definition wil be
ay,yays either NOR. or less ,aan the thing defined
Poetry finds its origin in that need Of eIprsSst7n
which is the pr1ary Impulse Of Nature. Eser&y.
thought requires ultcrance, ard every act Is only
an clor, 10 express the thought that Is in us-to
unboso ON ourSevc- And when our thought tas
thus become thing, We haze advanced step
Thu, 81; happincs. depends not on what we are
wont 70 call uninterrupted prosperity,, but on
the expression Of What is in We must do
wila, we shall perish If we do not This is the
great happiness OF Old Age that it gives vent 10
all thought so OF Wealth, which by granting
leisure gives US opportunity TO express what we
are. Eioqqcntcis nothing but this power 70 make
report to others Of what is within All the facts
Of the animal economy are emphatic symbols OF
the eternal fact-the passage of the world into the
soul, where ii suffers change and appears again
a. a never and {; hi cher fact. The only reason
why we do one thing and avoid another is this =
that i'll the one am represented and in the other
not ilius is it with the beauties we see ina land
scapc; for this reason do we follow particular peg
sous because they express thoughts, while
others do not, and we care not for them IhuS
does every warrior follow Napoleon or Nelson;
every member of a party follows some head; every
artist has his followers it * his feat of Genius
that draws me so, for in him do feel my own
powers elected. Therefore do and gaze
to sec some Taglion a miracle of grace, dance
before US she but dances for us were it not for
some defect in ollr education some clun-iness
thus should wc dance as it Is, we dance IN her
feet
This need ofcxprcssio, is the cause of all action.
But mii's science, orperception Of things IN the
intellect, should have expression also 10 this
the force Of Nature easily lends its influence All
things in the world are Symbols. We say thai
nanis grass, is u stream, an hour, IL day, thou
sand thins,: il we wish to accuse him we call
him an owl, a 5;lboon bat, a snake, &c. We
do this now with little thought. but the man who
first called another puppy or ass was Poet; he
,Ip of ne man "A
sity which would force him TO bark or to bray.
rberc is no word in language that cannot thus
bccorsc a type of Nature, and the moancr The type
the more pungcnh the expression. We call the
Universe blossom cock, sparrow: the ear
hears aud the heart leaps to the tropc
We see in every day lie the iondness OF men
for symbols. Loo, at the ba rolled from Balti-
more to Boston Behold the shoe at Lynn-ihc
ship of Ncw-Bedtorl; tliink of the log-c;bn the
hickory pole and the cider barrel These men
fancy they hate poetry, and yet they are all poets.
How dous the flag of our counlry--a mere strip oi
painted umng-Sccn in some foreign port, make
the hcar bound for JOY Wlatdocs this love iol
symbols denote, ii not that the relation OF man 10
the things of nature is more intimate than the
world suspects and that the metamorphoses OF
Latin and Indian song are not so fabulous as they
are represented Hence the power of Eloqucnce.
Men say. wIn,f tia, man who tails such thoughts
II" The SENATE should 0cS them "'l' Wo''''
happen II tins fellow some new 'rimstlsra''oi;
should acquire power to q" What ne no" says
1t NAV be he will; he must be watched
adequate intellectual expression is very rare.
Most men can say something. Sufficient express
sion is col to prevent suiocation We manage 10
&c, some gris, between the stones 10 prevent the
mill from grinding itself; bnt there is no adequate
expression tor all our thought. but We worship
the expression by another oi VIVA. we nave III o,''
heart, ror thls we forgive an us sloiI c"ili''s>
al ms crimes even. us y true IN art OUT 1t
Is demanded most "f all IN lnteilect