Miscellanies : $b embracing Nature, addresses, and lecturesEmerson, Ralph Waldo
Philosophy
Miscellanies : $b embracing Nature, addresses, and lectures
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
American essays -- 19th century; Philosophy of nature; Transcendentalism (New England)
our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own
minds. The study of letters shall be no longer a name for pity, for
doubt, and for sensual indulgence. The dread of man and the love of man
shall be a wall of defence and a wreath of joy around all. A nation of
men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself
inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men.
AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE SENIOR CLASS IN DIVINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, SUNDAY
EVENING, JULY 15, 1838.
ADDRESS.
In this refulgent summer, it has been a luxury to draw the breath of
life. The grass grows, the buds burst, the meadow is spotted with fire
and gold in the tint of flowers. The air is full of birds, and sweet
with the breath of the pine, the balm-of-Gilead, and the new hay. Night
brings no gloom to the heart with its welcome shade. Through the
transparent darkness the stars pour their almost spiritual rays. Man
under them seems a young child, and his huge globe a toy. The cool night
bathes the world as with a river, and prepares his eyes again for the
crimson dawn. The mystery of nature was never displayed more happily.
The corn and the wine have been freely dealt to all creatures, and the
never-broken silence with which the old bounty goes forward, has not
yielded yet one word of explanation. One is constrained to respect the
perfection of this world, in which our senses converse. How wide; how
rich; what invitation from every property it gives to every faculty of
man! In its fruitful soils; in its navigable sea; in its mountains of
metal and stone; in its forests of all woods; in its animals; in its
chemical ingredients; in the powers and path of light, heat, attraction,
and life, it is well worth the pith and heart of great men to subdue and
enjoy it. The planters, the mechanics, the inventors, the astronomers,
the builders of cities, and the captains, history delights to honor.
But when the mind opens, and reveals the laws which traverse the
universe, and make things what they are, then shrinks the great world at
once into a mere illustration and fable of this mind. What am I? and
What is? asks the human spirit with a curiosity new-kindled, but never
to be quenched. Behold these outrunning laws, which our imperfect
apprehension can see tend this way and that, but not come full circle.
Behold these infinite relations, so like, so unlike; many, yet one. I
would study, I would know, I would admire forever. These works of
thought have been the entertainments of the human spirit in all ages.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account