The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1911-03-28
MOST PROFOUND THINKER
He Made q Lasting Impression at
Chapel HilI-A Trenendous Con.
gregstion Heard Him snnda, In One
Of the Finest Sermons Ever Preach.
cd al the University.

=
students of the University OF North
Carolina have had the privilege Of
coming in contact with for some
time Is DIR. Henry Van DYKE. who has
been deliveringya series oi lectures at
the university. DIR. Van Dyke has
made a lasting impression upon all
who have heard him. and all have felt
that 10 have heard him is the privilege
OF lifetime
On Saturday evening DIR. Van Dyke
lectured on Poetry and Nature" !"
Sunday morning he preached the
March sermon. and Sunday evening
be delivered his lecture on Poetry
and the Unseen World"
.Poefry and Naiarc.'
In his lecture on "Poeiry and Ma
ture," Dr. Van Dyke took the ground
that poetry was nothing more than
the incarnation Of the great Spirit Of
nature, the Spirit which man some
how feels actuaiez the universe.
"The service which poetry renders
by interpreting the world Of nature
10 the heart OF man Is great We feel
that the outward shows OF earth and
sky, the mountains and rivers. the
birds and the flowers, the stars and
the sea. have a secret life In them
which il different from ours, and yet
related in some strange way TO our
life. They have meaning and a
message for the human soul. Poetry
gives them a voice and makes them
speak 10 us I'm music.
Science and poetry are not hostile
10 each s.aer. They approach nature
| "a different ways. that Is all. Science
asks the visible world. What do you
mean? How doyou work. How can
men use your sfoscesg Poetry asks.
What do yoi, mean? What have you
70 say to mani How shall imagina-
ton read your symbols
"The advance Of modern science
seems at first totllimit the field OF
poetry. But in reality il is not SO.
For beyond the range OF scientific
knowledge lie the great mysteries OF
the uniyerse--the nature of beauty,
and life, and love; and here faith aud
the imagination must still lead the
human spirit. In wonder science
ends: i'm wonder poetry begins. Is
the rainbow any the less wonderful
now that we know the Law OF the
prism? Does not the memory Of an
cicnt interpretations stlll sparkle
around story Of the Bow Of
PromlTc. the myth Of Irisg Are not
the coiors blended and divided like
scycnfCld chord OF music7 Is not
the incf1abIe mystery Of light still
therey
1--WE know now that II Is the motion
OF the earth that causes the sun and
moon 70 seem 20 rise and set and
makes the stars appear 20 roll around
ua but II Is all as full Of beauty and
wonder to our hearts ms Il ever was.
II Is all capable Of being woven into
poetry as beautiful as Tennyson,s lit
tie song OF love:
Move eastward happy earth and
leave
Yon orange sunset waning low
"The first thing We ask OF the poet
IL that he shall help MS 10 sec the
forms and colors and motions. and
20 hear the sounds OF nature clearly
and truthfnlly.
"The second thing Is that he shall
give Us a deeper sense Of the life that
Is In them. This the classic poets did
by mythology. But modern myth
ology Is usually stifi and artificial.
The poetry OF this age uses personif-
cation--as wordworih says:
For Ills my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air II breathes'
"The last and highest thing that
poetry does for nature is to interpret
the unity of her manifold life. to give
Us sense OF something far more
deeply interfuscd" than all her out
tContinned on rage Two.i