One fine evening we are walking in a suitable place where the wide
horizon gives us a full view of the setting sun, and we note the
objects which mark the place where it sets. Next morning we return
to the same place for a breath of fresh air before sun-rise. We
see the rays of light which announce the sun's approach; the glow
increases, the east seems afire, and long before the sun appears
the light leads us to expect its return. Every moment you expect to
see it. There it is at last! A shining point appears like a flash
of lightning and soon fills the whole space; the veil of darkness
rolls away, man perceives his dwelling place in fresh beauty.
During the night the grass has assumed a fresher green; in the
light of early dawn, and gilded by the first rays of the sun, it
seems covered with a shining network of dew reflecting the light
and colour. The birds raise their chorus of praise to greet the
Father of life, not one of them is mute; their gentle warbling is
softer than by day, it expresses the langour of a peaceful waking.
All these produce an impression of freshness which seems to reach
the very soul. It is a brief hour of enchantment which no man can
resist; a sight so grand, so fair, so delicious, that none can
behold it unmoved.
Fired with this enthusiasm, the master wishes to impart it to the
child. He expects to rouse his emotion by drawing attention to his
own. Mere folly! The splendour of nature lives in man's heart; to
be seen, it must be felt. The child sees the objects themselves, but
does not perceive their relations, and cannot hear their harmony.
It needs knowledge he has not yet acquired, feelings he has not yet
experienced, to receive the complex impression which results from
all these separate sensations. If he has not wandered over arid
plains, if his feet have not been scorched by the burning sands
of the desert, if he has not breathed the hot and oppressive air
reflected from the glowing rocks, how shall he delight in the fresh
air of a fine morning. The scent of flowers, the beauty of foliage,
the moistness of the dew, the soft turf beneath his feet, how shall
all these delight his senses. How shall the song of the birds arouse
voluptuous emotion if love and pleasure are still unknown to him?
How shall he behold with rapture the birth of this fair day, if
his imagination cannot paint the joys it may bring in its track?
How can he feel the beauty of nature, while the hand that formed
it is unknown?
Never tell the child what he cannot understand: no descriptions, no
eloquence, no figures of speech, no poetry. The time has not come
for feeling or taste. Continue to be clear and cold; the time will
come only too soon when you must adopt another tone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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