Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-01-25
The Sense Of Beauty.

| The Sense of Beauty.
1t is perhaps n commonplace to
say that while the perception OF
beauty in its many soutward and
visible forms inspires the poets
song and the artists pencil, it IL
the source also Of much that is
noblest In character. Every act OF
self-sacrifice-the hope that looks
heavenward, the love that casts out
fear, the sympathy that leads to the
seli-eonsSratiOn Of men like Cor
don and Damien, like Howard and
LivingstOne-points to the Supreme
Beauty whence these noble men.
and many others like them, gained
their steadfastnCss Of purpose anC
serenity Of spisit, We can not dis
sociate the highestyirtue from beau
ty, because the goodness that gives .
divine purpose to life makes life
harmonious, suggesting 10 us the
harmony which, as Shakespeare
says, sis in immortal souls"
And, before Having the moral
aspect Of beauty, it may be remarked
that even pain and SORROW aud death
can be so glorified by submission
and faith N to recall the beauty OF
which, according to Ap0crypha,
God is the "frst Author.v These
are high matters, but they have an
interest for I'll Of US, since there Is
no person, whether his position b,
that Of a millionaire or n dock later
er, who r.Ay MT live life in ac-
cordance with the highest law, and,
therefore, one that viii he in IL
measure beautiful. II order be, rs
Pope tells Us, heavens first law, il
Is evident that in morality as well
rs in art It Is demauded by our sense
Of beauty. And 1t is this sense
which inspircs whatever is the high
est worth in art or literature.
In poetry, although other quail
ties may be required for building VI
4 great work, such as "The TEN.
pest'' or 'sParadise Lost" the per
ception Of beauty is not only essen
ial, but predominant. SA great
poets imagination Graves above all
things for this sense, which guides
him unerringiy. Instead Of feasting
perpetually on nectared sweets,
which would take the manhood Out
Of ibis verse, he knows how TO en-
hance the sense of beeuty in his
readers 10y the use of contrast.
There is no poet in the language
who has more wealth Of music or
more command Of imagery than
Spenser. He is emphatically the
poet Of the beautiful; yet well does
he understand the need of contrast |
in art that he does not scruple |
occasionally to use language which |
the taste Of our day, that likes it,
medicine sugared, may term dis
gushing. Note, too. how well Shakes
peare understood this art of contrast. |
The play that exhibits Iachimo, one
Of his greatest villains, gives us also |
lmogen, the sweetest woman that |
lives in verse; Miranda is brought |
into opposition with Caliban; If |
there had not been an Iago We
should not have had a Desdemona;
and for Millions Eve we have to |
thank the arch-fiend who was found
by Ithuriel "squat like toad" close
at her ear, "'essaying by his devilish |
art to reach the organs Of her fancy"
WordsWOrth's sense OF beauty was |
keen enough ut times, or he would |
not be n great poet; but ii came to |
him by fits, and, therefore, all his |
lOveliest verse has the brevity ana |
OF the lyric. To the poet |
-. ..V..FFx- Tor ua..i,,o, o,,N F...-Ts,... Il
the loveliness that lies around him
brings untold delights. What most
men pass by with Indifference is to
him Joy forever. In q e woods |
and in the fields, in crowded streets
and in mountain sOlitud6s, in the
dewy freshness Of the morning, in
the solemn Stiffness Of night "clao
in the beauty Of thousand stars,
in the Innocent miTth Of childhood,
in the dawning love of the maiden,
in the young mother leaning over
her babe, in the song OF an untrou-
bled heart, in the tranquil patience
OF a sad one-the poet finds food for
and an ever-deepening
love of beauty gives inspiration to
his song. And the delight Of the
poet is shared in n lower degree by
every one who is sensitive TO
beauty.
We men Of prose may not have
the rapturous delight in nature and
art of spirits more finely touched,
but we can see enough and feel
enough ourselves to conceive what
that delight must be. And we es-
cape the pains Of genius which are
acute in proportion TO its pleasures.
In nature as well Us in poetry the
sense ofbeauty Is simulated by con-
trast. II all women were pretty
how soon we should cease to admire
lovele ayes and fair compilations
and me thousand charms which
make women in their weakness
stronger than men are in their
strength; II all men were handsome
fine features would be disregarded.
In climates which have months
of perpetual drought and heat, the
blue sky becomes hateful, and the
sun, instead OF being the best Of
friends, as in temperate lands, is re-
garded as an enemy. An English
man finds cloudy days depressing
because they are 50 frequent in this
island; his brothers in tropical lands
welcome them because they are so
few. In animal life, 600, the same
rule holds good, and 1 question If
We should admire the exquisite
shape Of n gazelle or Of a well-bred
horSe, and the superb plumage of
the peacock and the secretary bird,
We're it not for the contrast afforded
by the rhinoceros, the hippopo-
tamus, and the vulture.-MuStrdted