version by ,al ,haines4 ,,essays ,,before ,a ,,sonata by ,charles ,ives ,,table ,,of ,,contents3 ,,brief ,,biographical ,,sketch ,,introductory ,,footnote ,,by ,,charles ,,ives ,,introduction ,i--,,prologue ,,ii--,,emerson ,,iii--,,hawthorne ,,iv--,,the ,,alcots ,v--,,thoreau ,,vi--,,epilogue ,,information ,,about ,,this ,e-,,text ,,edition 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 999999999999999999999999999999999999 ,,brief ,,biographical ,,sketch ,charles ,ives 7#ahgd-aied7 was probably one of the most psycho-intellectually brilliant1 imaginative and flexible ,americans to ever walk the land of freedom4 ,a graduate of ,yale1 he became a multi-millionaire in the ,american insurance industry1 introducing brilliant innovations within that industry4 ,he also1 unlike a few composers1 found the time and the money 7being a shrewd and practical businessman7 to get married and have children4 ,his accomplishments for which he is best known1 however1 are those in the field of music4 ,at the time of its composition1 ,ives' music was probably the most radically modern in history1 and by itself had enough material to serve as the foundation of modern #bjth century music4 ,for example1 at the turn of the century1 this eccentric composer created band works featuring multiple melodies of multiple time signatures opposing and complimenting each other within the same piece4 ,ives was also a revolutionary atonal composer1 who created1 essentially without precedent1 many atonal works that not only pre-date those of ,schoenberg1 but are just as sophisticated1 and arguably even more so1 than those of the #ab-tone serialist4 ,among those atonal works was his second1 ,concord piano sonata1 one of the finest1 and some would say the finest1 works of classical music by an ,american4 ,it reflects the musical innovations of its creator1 featuring revolutionary atmospheric effects1 unprecedented atonal musical syntax1 and surprising technical approaches to playing the piano1 such as pressing down on over #aj notes simultaneously using a flat piece of wood4 ,what a mischievious creative genius6 ,and yet1 despite the musically innovative nature of these works1 from a thematic standpoint1 they are strictly #aith century4 ,ives1 like ,american band-composer ,sousa1 consciously infused patriotic or blue-blood themes into his pieces4 ,in the ,concord1 he attempted to project1 within the music1 the #aith century philosophical ideas of the ,american ,transcendentalists1 who obviously had a great impact on his world-view4 ,thus1 while other atonal composers such as ,schoenberg or ,berg attempted to infuse their music with #bjth century themes of hostility1 violence and estrangement within their atonal music1 the atonal music of ,ives is1 from a thematic standpoint1 really quite tonal4 ,ives wrote the following essays as a 7very big7 set of program notes to accompany his second piano sonata4 ,here1 he puts forth his elaborate theory of music and what it represents1 and discusses ,transcendental philosophy and its relation to music4 ,the essays explain ,ives' own philosophy of and understanding of music and art4 ,they also serve as an analysis of music itself as an artform1 and provide a critical explanation of the ,concord and the role that the philosophies of ,emerson1 ,hawthorne1 ,thoreau and the ,alcotts play in forming its thematic structure4 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99 ,,essays ,,before ,a ,,sonata1 ,,by ,,charles ,,ives 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99 ,,introductory ,,footnote ,,by ,,charles ,,ives ,these prefatory essays were written by the composer for those who can't stand his music--and the music for those who can't stand his essays2 to those who can't stand either1 the whole is respectfully dedicated4 ,,introduction ,the following pages were written primarily as a preface or reason for the writer's second ,pianoforte ,sonata--,concord1 ,mass41 #ahde1--;a group of four pieces1 called a sonata for want of a more exact name1 as the form1 perhaps substance1 does not justify it4 ,the music and prefaces were intended to be printed together1 but as it was found that this would make a cumbersome volume they are separate4 ,the whole is an attempt to present one person's impression of the spirit of transcendentalism that is associated in the minds of many with ,concord1 ,mass41 of over a half century ago4 ,this is undertaken in impressionistic pictures of ,emerson and ,thoreau1 a sketch of the ,alcotts1 and a ,scherzo supposed to reflect a lighter quality which is often found in the fantastic side of ,hawthorne4 ,the first and last movements do not aim to give any programs of the life or of any particular work of either ,emerson or ,thoreau but rather composite pictures or impressions4 ,they are1 however1 so general in outline that1 from some viewpoints1 they may be as far from accepted impressions 7from true conceptions1 for that matter7 as the valuation which they purport to be of the influence of the life1 thought1 and character of ,emerson and ,thoreau is inadequate4 ,i--,prologue ,how far is anyone justified1 be he an authority or a layman1 in expressing or trying to express in terms of music 7in sounds1 if you like7 the value of anything1 material1 moral1 intellectual1 or spiritual1 which is usually expressed in terms other than music8 ,how far afield can music go and keep honest as well as reasonable or artistic8 ,is it a matter limited only by the composer's power of expressing what lies in his subjective or objective consciousness8 ,or is it limited by any limitations of the composer8 ,can a tune literally represent a stonewall with vines on it or with nothing on it1 though it 7the tune7 be made by a genius whose power of objective contemplation is in the highest state of development8 ,can it be done by anything short of an act of mesmerism on the part of the composer or an act of kindness on the part of the listener8 ,does the extreme materializing of music appeal strongly to anyone except to those without a sense of humor--or rather with a sense of humor8--or1 except1 possibly to those who might excuse it1 as ,herbert ,spencer might by the theory that the sensational element 7the sensations we hear so much about in experimental psychology7 is the true pleasurable phenomenon in music and that the mind should not be allowed to interfere8 ,does the success of program music depend more upon the program than upon the music8 ,if it does1 what is the use of the music1 if it does not1 what is the use of the program8 ,does not its appeal depend to a great extent on the listener's willingness to accept the theory that music is the language of the emotions and ,,only that8 ,or inversely does not this theory tend to limit music to programs8--a limitation as bad for music itself--for its wholesome progress1--as a diet of program music is bad for the listener's ability to digest anything beyond the sensuous 7or physical-emotional74 ,to a great extent this depends on what is meant by emotion or on the assumption that the word as used above refers more to the ,,expression1 of1 rather than to a meaning in a deeper sense--which may be a feeling influenced by some experience perhaps of a spiritual nature in the expression of which the intellect has some part4 ,the nearer we get to the mere expression of emotion1 says ,professor ,sturt in his ,philosophy of ,art and ,personality1 as in the antics of boys who have been promised a holiday1 the further we get away from art4 ,on the other hand is not all music1 program-music1--is not pure music1 so called1 representative in its essence8 ,is it not program-music raised to the nth power or rather reduced to the minus nth power8 ,where is the line to be drawn between the expression of subjective and objective emotion8 ,it is easier to know what each is than when each becomes what it is4 ,the ,separateness of ,art theory--that art is not life but a reflection of it--that art is not vital to life but that life is vital to it1 does not help us4 ,nor does ,thoreau who says not that life is art1 but that life is an art1 which of course is a different thing than the foregoing4 ,tolstoi is even more helpless to himself and to us4 ,for he eliminates further4 ,from his definition of art we may learn little more than that a kick in the back is a work of art1 and ,beethoven's #ith ,symphony is not4 ,experiences are passed on from one man to another4 ,abel knew that4 ,and now we know it4 ,but where is the bridge placed8--at the end of the road or only at the end of our vision8 ,is it all a bridge8--or is there no bridge because there is no gulf8 ,suppose that a composer writes a piece of music conscious that he is inspired1 say1 by witnessing an act of great self-sacrifice--another piece by the contemplation of a certain trait of nobility he perceives in a friend's character--and another by the sight of a mountain lake under moonlight4 ,the first two1 from an inspirational standpoint would naturally seem to come under the subjective and the last under the objective1 yet the chances are1 there is something of the quality of both in all4 ,there may have been in the first instance physical action so intense or so dramatic in character that the remembrance of it aroused a great deal more objective emotion than the composer was conscious of while writing the music4 ,in the third instance1 the music may have been influenced strongly though subconsciously by a vague remembrance of certain thoughts and feelings1 perhaps of a deep religious or spiritual nature1 which suddenly came to him upon realizing the beauty of the scene and which overpowered the first sensuous pleasure--perhaps some such feeling as of the conviction of immortality1 that ,thoreau experienced and tells about in ,walden4 ,i penetrated to those meadows 444 when the wild river and the woods were bathed in so pure and bright a light as would have waked the dead ,,if they had been slumbering in their graves as some suppose4 ,there needs no stronger proof of immortality4 ,enthusiasm must permeate it1 but what it is that inspires an art-effort is not easily determined much less classified4 ,the word inspire is used here in the sense of cause rather than effect4 ,a critic may say that a certain movement is not inspired4 ,but that may be a matter of taste--perhaps the most inspired music sounds the least so--to the critic4 ,a true inspiration may lack a true expression unless it is assumed that if an inspiration is not true enough to produce a true expression--7if there be anyone who can definitely determine what a true expression is7--it is not an inspiration at all4 ,again suppose the same composer at another time writes a piece of equal merit to the other three1 as estimates go2 but holds that he is not conscious of what inspired it--that he had nothing definite in mind--that he was not aware of any mental image or process--that1 naturally1 the actual work in creating something gave him a satisfying feeling of pleasure perhaps of elation4 ,what will you substitute for the mountain lake1 for his friend's character1 etc48 ,will you substitute anything8 ,if so why8 ,if so what8 ,or is it enough to let the matter rest on the pleasure mainly physical1 of the tones1 their color1 succession1 and relations1 formal or informal8 ,can an inspiration come from a blank mind8 ,well--he tries to explain and says that he was conscious of some emotional excitement and of a sense of something beautiful1 he doesn't know exactly what--a vague feeling of exaltation or perhaps of profound sadness4 ,what is the source of these instinctive feelings1 these vague intuitions and introspective sensations8 ,the more we try to analyze the more vague they become4 ,to pull them apart and classify them as subjective or objective or as this or as that1 means1 that they may be well classified and that is about all3 it leaves us as far from the origin as ever4 ,what does it all mean8 ,what is behind it all8 ,the voice of ,god1 says the artist1 the voice of the devil1 says the man in the front row4 ,are we1 because we are1 human beings1 born with the power of innate perception of the beautiful in the abstract so that an inspiration can arise through no external stimuli of sensation or experience1--no association with the outward8 ,or was there present in the above instance1 some kind of subconscious1 instantaneous1 composite image1 of all the mountain lakes this man had ever seen blended as kind of overtones with the various traits of nobility of many of his friends embodied in one personality8 ,do all inspirational images1 states1 conditions1 or whatever they may be truly called1 have for a dominant part1 if not for a source1 some actual experience in life or of the social relation8 ,to think that they do not--always at least--would be a relief2 but as we are trying to consider music made and heard by human beings 7and not by birds or angels7 it seems difficult to suppose that even subconscious images can be separated from some human experience--there must be something behind subconsciousness to produce consciousness1 and so on4 ,but whatever the elements and origin of these so-called images are1 that they ,,do stir deep emotional feelings and encourage their expression is a part of the unknowable we know4 ,they do often arouse something that has not yet passed the border line between subconsciousness and consciousness--an artistic intuition 7well named1 but7--object and cause unknown6--here is a program6--conscious or subconscious what does it matter8 ,why try to trace any stream that flows through the garden of consciousness to its source only to be confronted by another problem of tracing this source to its source8 ,perhaps ,emerson in the ,rhodora answers by not trying to explain ,that if eyes were made for seeing ,then beauty is its own excuse for being3 ,why thou wert there1 ,o1 rival of the rose6 ,i never thought to ask1 ,i never knew2 ,but1 in my simple ignorance1 suppose ,the self-same ,power that brought me there brought you4 ,perhaps ,sturt answers by substitution3 ,we cannot explain the origin of an artistic intuition any more than the origin of any other primary function of our nature4 ,but if as ,i believe civilization is mainly founded on those kinds of unselfish human interests which we call knowledge and morality it is easily intelligible that we should have a parallel interest which we call art closely akin and lending powerful support to the other two4 ,it is intelligible too that moral goodness1 intellectual power1 high vitality1 and strength should be approved by the intuition4 ,this reduces1 or rather brings the problem back to a tangible basis namely3--the translation of an artistic intuition into musical sounds approving and reflecting1 or endeavoring to approve and reflect1 a moral goodness1 a high vitality1 etc41 or any other human attribute mental1 moral1 or spiritual4 ,can music do ,,more than this8 ,can it ,,do this8 and if so who and what is to determine the degree of its failure or success8 ,the composer1 the performer 7if there be any71 or those who have to listen8 ,one hearing or a century of hearings8-and if it isn't successful or if it doesn't fail what matters it8--the fear of failure need keep no one from the attempt for if the composer is sensitive he need but launch forth a countercharge of being misunderstood and hide behind it4 ,a theme that the composer sets up as moral goodness may sound like high vitality1 to his friend and but like an outburst of nervous weakness or only a stagnant pool to those not even his enemies4 ,expression to a great extent is a matter of terms and terms are anyone's4 ,the meaning of ,god may have a billion interpretations if there be that many souls in the world4 ,there is a moral in the ,nominalist and ,realist that will prove all sums4 ,it runs something like this3 ,no matter how sincere and confidential men are in trying to know or assuming that they do know each other's mood and habits of thought1 the net result leaves a feeling that all is left unsaid2 for the reason of their incapacity to know each other1 though they use the same words4 ,they go on from one explanation to another but things seem to stand about as they did in the beginning because of that vicious assumption4 ,but we would rather believe that music is beyond any analogy to word language and that the time is coming1 but not in our lifetime1 when it will develop possibilities unconceivable now1--a language1 so transcendent1 that its heights and depths will be common to all mankind4 ,,ii--,emerson #a ,it has seemed to the writer1 that ,emerson is greater--his identity more complete perhaps--in the realms of revelation--natural disclosure--than in those of poetry1 philosophy1 or prophecy4 ,though a great poet and prophet1 he is greater1 possibly1 as an invader of the unknown1--,america's deepest explorer of the spiritual immensities1--a seer painting his discoveries in masses and with any color that may lie at hand--cosmic1 religious1 human1 even sensuous2 a recorder1 freely describing the inevitable struggle in the soul's uprise--perceiving from this inward source alone1 that every ultimate fact is only the first of a new series2 a discoverer1 whose heart knows1 with ,voltaire1 that man seriously reflects when left alone1 and would then discover1 if he can1 that wondrous chain which links the heavens with earth--the world of beings subject to one law4 ,in his reflections ,emerson1 unlike ,plato1 is not afraid to ride ,arion's ,dolphin1 and to go wherever he is carried--to ,parnassus or to ,musketaquid4 ,we see him standing on a summit1 at the door of the infinite where many men do not care to climb1 peering into the mysteries of life1 contemplating the eternities1 hurling back whatever he discovers there1--now1 thunderbolts for us to grasp1 if we can1 and translate--now placing quietly1 even tenderly1 in our hands1 things that we may see without effort--if we won't see them1 so much the worse for us4 ,we see him1--a mountain-guide1 so intensely on the lookout for the trail of his star1 that he has no time to stop and retrace his footprints1 which may often seem indistinct to his followers1 who find it easier and perhaps safer to keep their eyes on the ground4 ,and there is a chance that this guide could not always retrace his steps if he tried--and why should he6--he is on the road1 conscious only that1 though his star may not lie within walking distance1 he must reach it before his wagon can be hitched to it--a ,prometheus illuminating a privilege of the ,gods--lighting a fuse that is laid towards men4 ,emerson reveals the less not by an analysis of itself1 but by bringing men towards the greater4 ,he does not try to reveal1 personally1 but leads1 rather1 to a field where revelation is a harvest-part1 where it is known by the perceptions of the soul towards the absolute law4 ,he leads us towards this law1 which is a realization of what experience has suggested and philosophy hoped for4 ,he leads us1 conscious that the aspects of truth1 as he sees them1 may change as often as truth remains constant4 ,revelation perhaps1 is but prophecy intensified--the intensifying of its mason-work as well as its steeple4 ,simple prophecy1 while concerned with the past1 reveals but the future1 while revelation is concerned with all time4 ,the power in ,emerson's prophecy confuses it with--or at least makes it seem to approach--revelation4 ,it is prophecy with no time element4 ,emerson tells1 as few bards could1 of what will happen in the past1 for his future is eternity and the past is a part of that4 ,and so like all true prophets1 he is always modern1 and will grow modern with the years--for his substance is not relative but a measure of eternal truths determined rather by a universalist than by a partialist4 ,he measured1 as ,michel ,angelo said true artists should1 with the eye and not the hand4 ,but to attribute modernism to his substance1 though not to his expression1 is an anachronism--and as futile as calling today's sunset modern4 ,as revelation and prophecy1 in their common acceptance are resolved by man1 from the absolute and universal1 to the relative and personal1 and as ,emerson's tendency is fundamentally the opposite1 it is easier1 safer and so apparently clearer1 to think of him as a poet of natural and revealed philosophy4 ,and as such1 a prophet--but not one to be confused with those singing soothsayers1 whose pockets are filled1 as are the pockets of conservative-reaction and radical demagoguery in pulpit1 street-corner1 bank and columns1 with dogmatic fortune-tellings4 ,emerson1 as a prophet in these lower heights1 was a conservative1 in that he seldom lost his head1 and a radical1 in that he seldom cared whether he lost it or not4 ,he was a born radical as are all true conservatives4 ,he was too much absorbed by the absolute1 too much of the universal to be either--though he could be both at once4 ,to ,cotton ,mather1 he would have been a demagogue1 to a real demagogue he would not be understood1 as it was with no self interest that he laid his hand on reality4 ,the nearer any subject or an attribute of it1 approaches to the perfect truth at its base1 the more does qualification become necessary4 ,radicalism must always qualify itself4 ,emerson clarifies as he qualifies1 by plunging into1 rather than emerging from ,carlyle's soul-confusing labyrinths of speculative radicalism4 ,the radicalism that we hear much about today1 is not ,emerson's kind--but of thinner fiber--it qualifies itself by going to ,a root and often cutting other roots in the process2 it is usually impotent as dynamite in its cause and sometimes as harmful to the wholesome progress of all causes2 it is qualified by its failure4 ,but the ,radicalism of ,emerson plunges to all roots1 it becomes greater than itself--greater than all its formal or informal doctrines--too advanced and too conservative for any specific result--too catholic for all the churches--for the nearer it is to truth1 the farther it is from a truth1 and the more it is qualified by its future possibilities4 ,hence comes the difficulty--the futility of attempting to fasten on ,emerson any particular doctrine1 philosophic1 or religious theory4 ,emerson wrings the neck of any law1 that would become exclusive and arrogant1 whether a definite one of metaphysics or an indefinite one of mechanics4 ,he hacks his way up and down1 as near as he can to the absolute1 the oneness of all nature both human and spiritual1 and to ,god's benevolence4 ,to him the ultimate of a conception is its vastness1 and it is probably this1 rather than the blind-spots in his expression that makes us incline to go with him but half-way2 and then stand and build dogmas4 ,but if we can not follow all the way--if we do not always clearly perceive the whole picture1 we are at least free to imagine it--he makes us feel that we are free to do so2 perhaps that is the most he asks4 ,for he is but reaching out through and beyond mankind1 trying to see what he can of the infinite and its immensities--throwing back to us whatever he can--but ever conscious that he but occasionally catches a glimpse2 conscious that if he would contemplate the greater1 he must wrestle with the lesser1 even though it dims an outline2 that he must struggle if he would hurl back anything--even a broken fragment for men to examine and perchance in it find a germ of some part of truth2 conscious at times1 of the futility of his effort and its message1 conscious of its vagueness1 but ever hopeful for it1 and confident that its foundation1 if not its medium is somewhere near the eventual and absolute good the divine truth underlying all life4 ,if ,emerson must be dubbed an optimist--then an optimist fighting pessimism1 but not wallowing in it2 an optimist1 who does not study pessimism by learning to enjoy it1 whose imagination is greater than his curiosity1 who seeing the sign-post to ,erebus1 is strong enough to go the other way4 ,this strength of optimism1 indeed the strength we find always underlying his tolerance1 his radicalism1 his searches1 prophecies1 and revelations1 is heightened and made efficient by imagination-penetrative1 a thing concerned not with the combining but the apprehending of things4 ,a possession1 akin to the power1 ,ruskin says1 all great pictures have1 which depends on the penetration of the imagination into the true nature of the thing represented1 and on the scorn of the imagination for all shackles and fetters of mere external fact that stand in the way of its suggestiveness--a possession which gives the strength of distance to his eyes1 and the strength of muscle to his soul4 ,with this he slashes down through the loam--nor would he have us rest there4 ,if we would dig deep enough only to plant a doctrine1 from one part of him1 he would show us the quick-silver in that furrow4 ,if we would creed his ,compensation1 there is hardly a sentence that could not wreck it1 or could not show that the idea is no tenet of a philosophy1 but a clear 7though perhaps not clearly hurled on the canvas7 illustration of universal justice--of ,god's perfect balances2 a story of the analogy or better the identity of polarity and duality in ,nature with that in morality4 ,the essay is no more a doctrine than the law of gravitation is4 ,if we would stop and attribute too much to genius1 he shows us that what is best written or done by genius in the world1 was no one man's work1 but came by wide social labor1 when a thousand wrought like one1 sharing the same impulse4 ,if we would find in his essay on ,montaigne1 a biography1 we are shown a biography of scepticism--and in reducing this to relation between sensation and the morals we are shown a true ,montaigne--we know the man better perhaps by this less presentation4 ,if we would stop and trust heavily on the harvest of originality1 he shows us that this plant--this part of the garden--is but a relative thing4 ,it is dependent also on the richness that ages have put into the soil4 ,every thinker is retrospective4 ,thus is ,emerson always beating down through the crust towards the first fire of life1 of death and of eternity4 ,read where you will1 each sentence seems not to point to the next but to the undercurrent of all4 ,if you would label his a religion of ethics or of morals1 he shames you at the outset1 for ethics is but a reflection of a divine personality4 ,all the religions this world has ever known1 have been but the aftermath of the ethics of one or another holy person2 as soon as character appears be sure love will2 the intuition of the moral sentiment is but the insight of the perfection of the laws of the soul2 but these laws cannot be catalogued4 ,if a versatilist1 a modern ,goethe1 for instance1 could put all of ,emerson's admonitions into practice1 a constant permanence would result1--an eternal short-circuit--a focus of equal ,x-rays4 ,even the value or success of but one precept is dependent1 like that of a ball-game as much on the batting-eye as on the pitching-arm4 ,the inactivity of permanence is what ,emerson will not permit4 ,he will not accept repose against the activity of truth4 ,but this almost constant resolution of every insight towards the absolute may get a little on one's nerves1 if one is at all partial-wise to the specific2 one begins to ask what is the absolute anyway1 and why try to look clear through the eternities and the unknowable even out of the other end4 ,emerson's fondness for flying to definite heights on indefinite wings1 and the tendency to over-resolve1 becomes unsatisfying to the impatient1 who want results to come as they walk4 ,probably this is a reason that it is occasionally said that ,emerson has no vital message for the rank and file4 ,he has no definite message perhaps for the literal1 but messages are all vital1 as much1 by reason of his indefiniteness1 as in spite of it4 ,there is a suggestion of irony in the thought that the power of his vague but compelling vitality1 which ever sweeps us on in spite of ourselves1 might not have been his1 if it had not been for those definite religious doctrines of the old ,new ,england theologians4 ,for almost two centuries1 ,emerson's mental and spiritual muscles had been in training for him in the moral and intellectual contentions1 a part of the religious exercise of his forebears4 ,a kind of higher sensitiveness seems to culminate in him4 ,it gives him a power of searching for a wider freedom of soul than theirs4 ,the religion of ,puritanism was based to a great extent1 on a search for the unknowable1 limited only by the dogma of its theology--a search for a path1 so that the soul could better be conducted to the next world1 while ,emerson's transcendentalism was based on the wider search for the unknowable1 unlimited in any way or by anything except the vast bounds of innate goodness1 as it might be revealed to him in any phenomena of man1 ,nature1 or ,god4 ,this distinction1 tenuous1 in spite of the definite-sounding words1 we like to believe has something peculiar to ,emerson in it4 ,we like to feel that it superimposes the one that makes all transcendentalism but an intellectual state1 based on the theory of innate ideas1 the reality of thought and the necessity of its freedom4 ,for the philosophy of the religion1 or whatever you will call it1 of the ,concord ,transcendentalists is at least1 more than an intellectual state--it has even some of the functions of the ,puritan church--it is a spiritual state in which both soul and mind can better conduct themselves in this world1 and also in the next--when the time comes4 ,the search of the ,puritan was rather along the path of logic1 spiritualized1 and the transcendentalist of reason1 spiritualized--a difference in a broad sense between objective and subjective contemplation4 ,the dislike of inactivity1 repose and barter1 drives one to the indefinite subjective4 ,emerson's lack of interest in permanence may cause him to present a subjectivity harsher on the outside than is essential4 ,his very universalism occasionally seems a limitation4 ,somewhere here may lie a weakness--real to some1 apparent to others--a weakness in so far as his relation becomes less vivid--to the many2 insofar as he over-disregards the personal unit in the universal4 ,if ,genius is the most indebted1 how much does it owe to those who would1 but do not easily ride with it8 ,if there is a weakness here is it the fault of substance or only of manner8 ,if of the former1 there is organic error somewhere1 and ,emerson will become less and less valuable to man4 ,but this seems impossible1 at least to us4 ,without considering his manner or expression here 7it forms the general subject of the second section of this paper71 let us ask if ,emerson's substance needs an affinity1 a supplement or even a complement or a gangplank8 ,and if so1 of what will it be composed8 ,perhaps ,emerson could not have risen to his own1 if it had not been for his ,unitarian training and association with the churchmen emancipators4 ,christianity is founded on1 and supposes the authority of1 reason1 and cannot therefore oppose it1 without subverting itself4 444 ,its office is to discern universal truths1 great and eternal principles 444 the highest power of the soul4 ,thus preached ,channing4 ,who knows but this pulpit aroused the younger ,emerson to the possibilities of intuitive reasoning in spiritual realms8 ,the influence of men like ,channing in his fight for the dignity of human nature1 against the arbitrary revelations that ,calvinism had strapped on the church1 and for the belief in the divine in human reason1 doubtless encouraged ,emerson in his unshackled search for the infinite1 and gave him premises which he later took for granted instead of carrying them around with him4 ,an over-interest1 not an under-interest in ,christian ideal aims1 may have caused him to feel that the definite paths were well established and doing their share1 and that for some to reach the same infinite ends1 more paths might be opened--paths which would in themselves1 and in a more transcendent way1 partake of the spiritual nature of the land in quest1--another expression of ,god's ,kingdom in ,man4 ,would you have the indefinite paths ,,always supplemented by the shadow of the definite one of a first influence8 ,a characteristic of rebellion1 is that its results are often deepest1 when the rebel breaks not from the worst to the greatest1 but from the great to the greater4 ,the youth of the rebel increases this characteristic4 ,the innate rebellious spirit in young men is active and buoyant4 ,they could rebel against and improve the millennium4 ,this excess of enthusiasm at the inception of a movement1 causes loss of perspective2 a natural tendency to undervalue the great in that which is being taken as a base of departure4 ,a youthful sedition of ,emerson was his withdrawal from the communion1 perhaps1 the most socialistic doctrine 7or rather symbol7 of the church--a commune above property or class4 ,picking up an essay on religion of a rather remarkable-minded boy--perhaps with a touch of genius--written when he was still in college1 and so serving as a good illustration in point--we read--,every thinking man knows that the church is dead4 ,but every thinking man knows that the church-part of the church always has been dead--that part seen by candle-light1 not ,christ-light4 ,enthusiasm is restless and hasn't time to see that if the church holds itself as nothing but the symbol of the greater light it is life itself--as a symbol of a symbol it is dead4 ,many of the sincerest followers of ,christ never heard of ,him4 ,it is the better influence of an institution that arouses in the deep and earnest souls a feeling of rebellion to make its aims more certain4 ,it is their very sincerity that causes these seekers for a freer vision to strike down for more fundamental1 universal1 and perfect truths1 but with such feverish enthusiasm1 that they appear to overthink themselves--a subconscious way of going ,godward perhaps4 ,the rebel of the twentieth century says3 ,let us discard ,god1 immortality1 miracle--but be not untrue to ourselves4 ,here he1 no doubt1 in a sincere and exalted moment1 confuses ,god with a name4 ,he apparently feels that there is a separable difference between natural and revealed religion4 ,he mistakes the powers behind them1 to be fundamentally separate4 ,in the excessive keenness of his search1 he forgets that being true to ourselves ,,is ,god1 that the faintest thought of immortality ,,is ,god1 and that ,god is miracle4 ,over-enthusiasm keeps one from letting a common experience of a day translate what is stirring the soul4 ,the same inspiring force that arouses the young rebel1 brings later in life a kind of experience-afterglow1 a realization that the soul cannot discard or limit anything4 ,would you have the youthful enthusiasm of rebellion1 which ,emerson carried beyond his youth always supplemented by the shadow of experience8 ,perhaps it is not the narrow minded alone that have no interest in anything1 but in its relation to their personality4 ,is the ,christian ,religion1 to which ,emerson owes embryo-ideals1 anything but the revelation of ,god in a personality--a revelation so that the narrow mind could become opened8 ,but the tendency to over-personalize personality may also have suggested to ,emerson the necessity for more universal1 and impersonal paths1 though they be indefinite of outline and vague of ascent4 ,could you journey1 with equal benefit1 if they were less so8 ,would you have the universal always supplemented by the shadow of the personal8 ,if this view is accepted1 and we doubt that it can be by the majority1 ,emerson's substance could well bear a supplement1 perhaps an affinity4 ,something that will support that which some conceive he does not offer4 ,something that will help answer ,alton ,locke's question3 ,what has ,emerson for the working-man8 and questions of others who look for the gang-plank before the ship comes in sight4 ,something that will supply the definite banister to the infinite1 which it is said he keeps invisible4 ,something that will point a crossroad from his personal to his nature4 ,something that may be in ,thoreau or ,wordsworth1 or in another poet whose songs breathe of a new morning of a higher life though a definite beauty in ,nature--or something that will show the birth of his ideal and hold out a background of revealed religion1 as a perspective to his transcendent religion--a counterpoise in his rebellion--which we feel ,channing or ,dr4 ,bushnell1 or other saints known and unknown might supply4 ,if the arc must be completed--if there are those who would have the great1 dim outlines of ,emerson fulfilled1 it is fortunate that there are ,bushnells1 and ,wordsworths1 to whom they may appeal--to say nothing of the ,vedas1 the ,bible1 or their own souls4 ,but such possibilities and conceptions1 the deeper they are received1 the more they seem to reduce their need4 ,emerson's ,circle may be a better whole1 without its complement4 ,perhaps his unsatiable demand for unity1 the need to recognize one nature in all variety of objects1 would have been impaired1 if something should make it simpler for men to find the identity they at first want in his substance4 ,draw if thou canst the mystic line severing rightly his from thine1 which is human1 which divine4 ,whatever means one would use to personalize ,emerson's natural revelation1 whether by a vision or a board walk1 the vastness of his aims and the dignity of his tolerance would doubtless cause him to accept or at least try to accept1 and use magically as a part of his fortune4 ,he would modestly say1 perhaps1 that the world is enlarged for him1 not by finding new objects1 but by more affinities1 and potencies than those he already has4 ,but1 indeed1 is not enough manifestation already there8 ,is not the asking that it be made more manifest forgetting that we are not strong by our power to penetrate1 but by our relatedness8 ,will more signs create a greater sympathy8 ,is not our weak suggestion needed only for those content with their own hopelessness8 ,others may lead others to him1 but he finds his problem in making gladness hope and fortitude flow from his page1 rather than in arranging that our hearts be there to receive it4 ,the first is his duty--the last ours6 #b ,a devotion to an end tends to undervalue the means4 ,a power of revelation may make one more concerned about his perceptions of the soul's nature than the way of their disclosure4 ,emerson is more interested in what he perceives than in his expression of it4 ,he is a creator whose intensity is consumed more with the substance of his creation than with the manner by which he shows it to others4 ,like ,petrarch he seems more a discoverer of ,beauty than an imparter of it4 ,but these discoveries1 these devotions to aims1 these struggles toward the absolute1 do not these in themselves1 impart something1 if not all1 of their own unity and coherence--which is not received1 as such1 at first1 nor is foremost in their expression4 ,it must be remembered that truth was what ,emerson was after--not strength of outline1 or even beauty except in so far as they might reveal themselves1 naturally1 in his explorations towards the infinite4 ,to think hard and deeply and to say what is thought1 regardless of consequences1 may produce a first impression1 either of great translucence1 or of great muddiness1 but in the latter there may be hidden possibilities4 ,some accuse ,brahms' orchestration of being muddy4 ,this may be a good name for a first impression of it4 ,but if it should seem less so1 he might not be saying what he thought4 ,the mud may be a form of sincerity which demands that the heart be translated1 rather than handed around through the pit4 ,a clearer scoring might have lowered the thought4 ,carlyle told ,emerson that some of his paragraphs didn't cohere4 ,emerson wrote by sentences or phrases1 rather than by logical sequence4 ,his underlying plan of work seems based on the large unity of a series of particular aspects of a subject1 rather than on the continuity of its expression4 ,as thoughts surge to his mind1 he fills the heavens with them1 crowds them in1 if necessary1 but seldom arranges them1 along the ground first4 ,among class-room excuses for ,emerson's imperfect coherence and lack of unity1 is one that remembers that his essays were made from lecture notes4 ,his habit1 often in lecturing1 was to compile his ideas as they came to him on a general subject1 in scattered notes1 and when on the platform1 to trust to the mood of the occasion1 to assemble them4 ,this seems a specious explanation1 though true to fact4 ,vagueness1 is at times1 an indication of nearness to a perfect truth4 ,the definite glory of ,bernard of ,cluny's ,celestial ,city1 is more beautiful than true--probably4 ,orderly reason does not always have to be a visible part of all great things4 ,logic may possibly require that unity means something ascending in self-evident relation to the parts and to the whole1 with no ellipsis in the ascent4 ,but reason may permit1 even demand an ellipsis1 and genius may not need the self-evident part4 ,in fact1 these parts may be the blind-spots in the progress of unity4 ,they may be filled with little but repetition4 ,nature loves analogy and hates repetition4 ,botany reveals evolution not permanence4 ,an apparent confusion if lived with long enough may become orderly4 ,emerson was not writing for lazy minds1 though one of the keenest of his academic friends said that1 he 7,emerson7 could not explain many of his own pages4 ,but why should he6--he explained them when he discovered them--the moment before he spoke or wrote them4 ,a rare experience of a moment at daybreak1 when something in nature seems to reveal all consciousness1 cannot be explained at noon4 ,yet it is a part of the day's unity4 ,at evening1 nature is absorbed by another experience4 ,she dislikes to explain as much as to repeat4 ,it is conceivable1 that what is unified form to the author1 or composer1 may of necessity be formless to his audience4 ,a home-run will cause more unity in the grand stand than in the season's batting average4 ,if a composer once starts to compromise1 his work will begin to drag on ,,him4 ,before the end is reached1 his inspiration has all gone up in sounds pleasing to his audience1 ugly to him--sacrificed for the first acoustic--an opaque clarity1 a picture painted for its hanging4 ,easy unity1 like easy virtue1 is easier to describe1 when judged from its lapses than from its constancy4 ,when the infidel admits ,god is great1 he means only3 ,i am lazy--it is easier to talk than live4 ,ruskin also says3 ,suppose ,i like the finite curves best1 who shall say ,i'm right or wrong8 ,no one4 ,it is simply a question of experience4 ,you may not be able to experience a symphony1 even after twenty performances4 ,initial coherence today may be dullness tomorrow probably because formal or outward unity depends so much on repetition1 sequences1 antitheses1 paragraphs with inductions and summaries4 ,macaulay had that kind of unity4 ,can you read him today8 ,emerson rather goes out and shouts3 ,i'm thinking of the sun's glory today and ,i'll let his light shine through me4 ,i'll say any damn thing that this inspires me with4 ,perhaps there are flashes of light1 still in cipher1 kept there by unity1 the code of which the world has not yet discovered4 ,the unity of one sentence inspires the unity of the whole--though its physique is as ragged as the ,dolomites4 ,intense lights--vague shadows--great pillars in a horizon are difficult things to nail signboards to4 ,emerson's outward-inward qualities make him hard to classify1 but easy for some4 ,there are many who like to say that he--even all the ,concord men--are intellectuals4 ,perhaps--but intellectuals who wear their brains nearer the heart than some of their critics4 ,it is as dangerous to determine a characteristic by manner as by mood4 ,emerson is a pure intellectual to those who prefer to take him as literally as they can4 ,there are reformers1 and in the form lies their interest1 who prefer to stand on the plain1 and then insist they see from the summit4 ,indolent legs supply the strength of eye for their inspiration4 ,the intellect is never a whole4 ,it is where the soul finds things4 ,it is often the only track to the over-values4 ,it appears a whole--but never becomes one even in the stock exchange1 or the convent1 or the laboratory4 ,in the cleverest criminal1 it is but a way to a low ideal4 ,it can never discard the other part of its duality--the soul or the void where the soul ought to be4 ,so why classify a quality always so relative that it is more an agency than substance2 a quality that disappears when classified4 ,the life of the ,all must stream through us to make the man and the moment great4 ,a sailor with a precious cargo doesn't analyze the water4 ,because ,emerson had generations of ,calvinistic sermons in his blood1 some cataloguers1 would localize or provincialize him1 with the sternness of the old ,puritan mind4 ,they make him ,,that1 hold him ,,there4 ,they lean heavily on what they find of the above influence in him4 ,they won't follow the rivers in his thought and the play of his soul4 ,and their cousin cataloguers put him in another pigeon-hole4 ,they label him ascetic4 ,they translate his outward serenity into an impression of severity4 ,but truth keeps one from being hysterical4 ,is a demagogue a friend of the people because he will lie to them to make them cry and raise false hopes8 ,a search for perfect truths throws out a beauty more spiritual than sensuous4 ,a sombre dignity of style is often confused by under-imagination and by surface-sentiment1 with austerity4 ,if ,emerson's manner is not always beautiful in accordance with accepted standards1 why not accept a few other standards8 ,he is an ascetic1 in that he refuses to compromise content with manner4 ,but a real ascetic is an extremist who has but one height4 ,thus may come the confusion1 of one who says that ,emerson carries him high1 but then leaves him always at ,,that height--no higher--a confusion1 mistaking a latent exultation for an ascetic reserve4 ,the rules of ,thorough ,bass can be applied to his scale of flight no more than they can to the planetary system4 ,jadassohn1 if ,emerson were literally a composer1 could no more analyze his harmony than a guide-to-,boston could4 ,a microscope might show that he uses chords of the #ith1 #aath1 or the #iith1 but a lens far different tells us they are used with different aims from those of ,debussy4 ,emerson is definite in that his art is based on something stronger than the amusing or at its best the beguiling of a few mortals4 ,if he uses a sensuous chord1 it is not for sensual ears4 ,his harmonies may float1 if the wind blows in that direction1 through a voluptuous atmosphere1 but he has not ,debussy's fondness for trying to blow a sensuous atmosphere from his own voluptuous cheeks4 ,and so he is an ascetic6 ,there is a distance between jowl and soul--and it is not measured by the fraction of an inch between ,concord and ,paris4 ,on the other hand1 if one thinks that his harmony contains no dramatic chords1 because no theatrical sound is heard1 let him listen to the finale of ,success1 or of ,spiritual ,laws1 or to some of the poems1 ,brahma or ,sursum ,corda1 for example4 ,of a truth his ,codas often seem to crystallize in a dramatic1 though serene and sustained way1 the truths of his subject--they become more active and intense1 but quieter and deeper4 ,then there comes along another set of cataloguers4 ,they put him down as a classicist1 or a romanticist1 or an eclectic4 ,because a prophet is a child of romanticism--because revelation is classic1 because eclecticism quotes from eclectic ,hindu ,philosophy1 a more sympathetic cataloguer may say1 that ,emerson inspires courage of the quieter kind and delight of the higher kind4 ,the same well-bound school teacher who told the boys that ,thoreau was a naturalist because he didn't like to work1 puts down ,emerson as a classic1 and ,hawthorne as a romantic4 ,a loud voice made this doubly ,,true and ,,sure to be on the examination paper4 ,but this teacher of truth ,,and dogma apparently forgot that there is no such thing as classicism or romanticism4 ,one has but to go to the various definitions of these to know that4 ,if you go to a classic definition you know what a true classic is1 and similarly a true romantic4 ,but if you go to both1 you have an algebraic formula1 x x1 a cancellation1 an apercu1 and hence satisfying2 if you go to all definitions you have another formula x x1 a destruction1 another apercu1 and hence satisfying4 ,professor ,beers goes to the dictionary 7you wouldn't think a college professor would be as reckless as that74 ,and so he can say that romantic is pertaining to the style of the ,christian and popular literature of the ,middle ,ages1 a ,roman ,catholic mode of salvation 7not this definition but having a definition74 ,and so ,prof4 ,b4 can say that ,walter ,scott is a romanticist 7and ,billy ,phelps a classic--sometimes74 ,but for our part ,dick ,croker is a classic and job a romanticist4 ,another professor1 ,babbitt by name1 links up ,romanticism with ,rousseau1 and charges against it many of man's troubles4 ,he somehow likes to mix it up with sin4 ,he throws saucers at it1 but in a scholarly1 interesting1 sincere1 and accurate way4 ,he uncovers a deformed foot1 gives it a name1 from which we are allowed to infer that the covered foot is healthy and named classicism4 ,but no ,christian ,scientist can prove that ,christ never had a stomach-ache4 ,the ,architecture of ,humanism ,footnote3 ,geoffrey ,scott 7,constable ,co47 tells us that romanticism consists of 444 a poetic sensibility towards the remote1 as such4 ,but is ,plato a classic or towards the remote8 ,is ,classicism a poor relation of time--not of man8 ,is a thing classic or romantic because it is or is not passed by that biologic--that indescribable stream-of-change going on in all life8 ,let us settle the point for good1 and say that a thing is classic if it is thought of in terms of the past and romantic if thought of in terms of the future--and a thing thought of in terms of the present is--well1 that is impossible6 ,hence1 we allow ourselves to say1 that ,emerson is neither a classic or romantic but both--and both not only at different times in one essay1 but at the same time in one sentence--in one word4 ,and must we admit it1 so is everyone4 ,if you don't believe it1 there must be some true definition you haven't seen4 ,chopin shows a few things that ,bach forgot--but he is not eclectic1 they say4 ,brahms shows many things that ,bach did remember1 so he is an eclectic1 they say4 ,leoncavallo writes pretty verses and ,palestrina is a priest1 and ,confucius inspires ,scriabin4 ,a choice is freedom4 ,natural selection is but one of ,nature's tunes4 ,all melodious poets shall be hoarse as street ballads1 when once the penetrating keynote of nature and spirit is sounded--the earth-beat1 sea-beat1 heart-beat1 which make the tune to which the sun rolls1 and the globule of blood and the sap of the trees4 ,an intuitive sense of values1 tends to make ,emerson use social1 political1 and even economic phenomena1 as means of expression1 as the accidental notes in his scale--rather than as ends1 even lesser ends4 ,in the realization that they are essential parts of the greater values1 he does not confuse them with each other4 ,he remains undisturbed except in rare instances1 when the lower parts invade and seek to displace the higher4 ,he was not afraid to say that there are laws which should not be too well obeyed4 ,to him1 slavery was not a social or a political or an economic question1 nor even one of morals or of ethics1 but one of universal spiritual freedom only4 ,it mattered little what party1 or what platform1 or what law of commerce governed men4 ,was man governing himself8 ,social error and virtue were but relative4 ,this habit of not being hindered by using1 but still going beyond the great truths of living1 to the greater truths of life gave force to his influence over the materialists4 ,thus he seems to us more a regenerator than a reformer--more an interpreter of life's reflexes than of life's facts1 perhaps4 ,here he appears greater than ,voltaire or ,rousseau and helped1 perhaps1 by the centrality of his conceptions1 he could arouse the deeper spiritual and moral emotions1 without causing his listeners to distort their physical ones4 ,to prove that mind is over matter1 he doesn't place matter over mind4 ,he is not like the man who1 because he couldn't afford both1 gave up metaphysics for an automobile1 and when he ran over a man blamed metaphysics4 ,he would not have us get over-excited about physical disturbance but have it accepted as a part of any progress in culture1 moral1 spiritual or aesthetic4 ,if a poet retires to the mountain-side1 to avoid the vulgar unculture of men1 and their physical disturbance1 so that he may better catch a nobler theme for his symphony1 ,emerson tells him that man's culture can spare nothing1 wants all material1 converts all impediments into instruments1 all enemies into power4 ,the latest product of man's culture--the aeroplane1 then sails o'er the mountain and instead of an inspiration--a spray of tobacco-juice falls on the poet4 ,calm yourself1 ,poet6 says ,emerson1 culture will convert furies into muses and hells into benefit4 ,this wouldn't have befallen you if it hadn't been for the latest transcendent product of the genius of culture 7we won't say what kind71 a consummation of the dreams of poets1 from ,david to ,tennyson4 ,material progress is but a means of expression4 ,realize that man's coarseness has its future and will also be refined in the gradual uprise4 ,turning the world upside down may be one of its lesser incidents4 ,it is the cause1 seldom the effect that interests ,emerson4 ,he can help the cause--the effect must help itself4 ,he might have said to those who talk knowingly about the cause of war--or of the last war1 and who would trace it down through long vistas of cosmic1 political1 moral evolution and what not--he might say that the cause of it was as simple as that of any dogfight--the hog-mind of the minority against the universal mind1 the majority4 ,the un-courage of the former fears to believe in the innate goodness of mankind4 ,the cause is always the same1 the effect different by chance2 it is as easy for a hog1 even a stupid one1 to step on a box of matches under a tenement with a thousand souls1 as under an empty bird-house4 ,the many kindly burn up for the few2 for the minority is selfish and the majority generous4 ,the minority has ruled the world for physical reasons4 ,the physical reasons are being removed by this converting culture4 ,webster will not much longer have to grope for the mind of his constituency4 ,the majority--the people--will need no intermediary4 ,governments will pass from the representative to the direct4 ,the hog-mind is the principal thing that is making this transition slow4 ,the biggest prop to the hog-mind is pride--pride in property and the power property gives4 ,ruskin backs this up--it is at the bottom of all great mistakes2 other passions do occasional good1 but whenever pride puts in its word 444 it is all over with the artist4 ,the hog-mind and its handmaidens in disorder1 superficial brightness1 fundamental dullness1 then cowardice and suspicion--all a part of the minority 7the non-people7 the antithesis of everything called soul1 spirit1 ,christianity1 truth1 freedom--will give way more and more to the great primal truths--that there is more good than evil1 that ,god is on the side of the majority 7the people7--that he is not enthusiastic about the minority 7the non-people7--that he has made men greater than man1 that he has made the universal mind and the over-soul greater and a part of the individual mind and soul--that he has made the ,divine a part of all4 ,again1 if a picture in economics is before him1 ,emerson plunges down to the things that ,,are because they are ,,better than they are4 ,if there is a row1 which there usually is1 between the ebb and flood tide1 in the material ocean--for example1 between the theory of the present order of competition1 and of attractive and associated labor1 he would sympathize with ,ricardo1 perhaps1 that labor is the measure of value1 but embrace1 as do generous minds1 the proposition of labor shared by all4 ,he would go deeper than political economics1 strain out the self-factor from both theories1 and make the measure of each pretty much the same1 so that the natural 7the majority7 would win1 but not to the disadvantage of the minority 7the artificial7 because this has disappeared--it is of the majority4 ,john ,stuart ,mill's political economy is losing value because it was written by a mind more a banker's than a poet's4 ,the poet knows that there is no such thing as the perpetual law of supply and demand1 perhaps not of demand and supply--or of the wage-fund1 or price-level1 or increments earned or unearned2 and that the existence of personal or public property may not prove the existence of ,god4 ,emerson seems to use the great definite interests of humanity to express the greater1 indefinite1 spiritual values--to fulfill what he can in his realms of revelation4 ,thus1 it seems that so close a relation exists between his content and expression1 his substance and manner1 that if he were more definite in the latter he would lose power in the former1--perhaps some of those occasional flashes would have been unexpressed--flashes that have gone down through the world and will flame on through the ages--flashes that approach as near the ,divine as ,beethoven in his most inspired moments--flashes of transcendent beauty1 of such universal import1 that they may bring1 of a sudden1 some intimate personal experience1 and produce the same indescribable effect that comes in rare instances1 to men1 from some common sensation4 ,in the early morning of a ,memorial ,day1 a boy is awakened by martial music--a village band is marching down the street1 and as the strains of ,reeves' majestic ,seventh ,regiment ,march come nearer and nearer1 he seems of a sudden translated--a moment of vivid power comes1 a consciousness of material nobility1 an exultant something gleaming with the possibilities of this life1 an assurance that nothing is impossible1 and that the whole world lies at his feet4 ,but as the band turns the corner1 at the soldiers' monument1 and the march steps of the ,grand ,army become fainter and fainter1 the boy's vision slowly vanishes--his world becomes less and less probable--but the experience ever lies within him in its reality4 ,later in life1 the same boy hears the ,sabbath morning bell ringing out from the white steeple at the ,center1 and as it draws him to it1 through the autumn fields of sumac and asters1 a ,gospel hymn of simple devotion comes out to him--,there's a wideness in ,god's mercy--an instant suggestion of that ,memorial ,day morning comes--but the moment is of deeper import--there is no personal exultation--no intimate world vision--no magnified personal hope--and in their place a profound sense of a spiritual truth1--a sin within reach of forgiveness--and as the hymn voices die away1 there lies at his feet--not the world1 but the figure of the ,saviour--he sees an unfathomable courage1 an immortality for the lowest1 the vastness in humility1 the kindness of the human heart1 man's noblest strength1 and he knows that ,god is nothing--nothing but love6 ,whence cometh the wonder of a moment8 ,from sources we know not4 ,but we do know that from obscurity1 and from this higher ,orpheus come measures of sphere melodies note3 ,paraphrased from a passage in ,sartor ,resartus4 flowing in wild1 native tones1 ravaging the souls of men1 flowing now with thousand-fold accompaniments and rich symphonies through all our hearts2 modulating and divinely leading them4 #c ,what is character8 ,in how far does it sustain the soul or the soul it8 ,is it a part of the soul8 ,and then--what is the soul8 ,plato knows but cannot tell us4 ,every new-born man knows1 but no one tells us4 ,nature will not be disposed of easily4 ,no power of genius has ever yet had the smallest success in explaining existence4 ,the perfect enigma remains4 ,as every blind man sees the sun1 so character may be the part of the soul we1 the blind1 can see1 and then have the right to imagine that the soul is each man's share of ,god1 and character the muscle which tries to reveal its mysteries--a kind of its first visible radiance--the right to know that it is the voice which is always calling the pragmatist a fool4 ,at any rate1 it can be said that ,emerson's character has much to do with his power upon us4 ,men who have known nothing of his life1 have borne witness to this4 ,it is directly at the root of his substance1 and affects his manner only indirectly4 ,it gives the sincerity to the constant spiritual hopefulness we are always conscious of1 and which carries with it often1 even when the expression is somber1 a note of exultation in the victories of the innate virtues of man4 ,and it is this1 perhaps1 that makes us feel his courage--not a self-courage1 but a sympathetic one--courageous even to tenderness4 ,it is the open courage of a kind heart1 of not forcing opinions--a thing much needed when the cowardly1 underhanded courage of the fanatic would ,,force opinion4 ,it is the courage of believing in freedom1 per se1 rather than of trying to force everyone to ,,see that you believe in it--the courage of the willingness to be reformed1 rather than of reforming--the courage teaching that sacrifice is bravery1 and force1 fear4 ,the courage of righteous indignation1 of stammering eloquence1 of spiritual insight1 a courage ever contracting or unfolding a philosophy as it grows--a courage that would make the impossible possible4 ,oliver ,wendell ,holmes says that ,emerson attempted the impossible in the ,over-,soul--an overflow of spiritual imagination4 ,but he 7,emerson7 accomplished the impossible in attempting it1 and still leaving it impossible4 ,a courageous struggle to satisfy1 as ,thoreau says1 ,hunger rather than the palate--the hunger of a lifetime sometimes by one meal4 ,his essay on the ,pre-,soul 7which he did not write7 treats of that part of the over-soul's influence on unborn ages1 and attempts the impossible only when it stops attempting it4 ,like all courageous souls1 the higher ,emerson soars1 the more lowly he becomes4 ,do you think the porter and the cook have no experiences1 no wonders for you8 ,everyone knows as much as the ,savant4 ,to some1 the way to be humble is to admonish the humble1 not learn from them4 ,carlyle would have ,emerson teach by more definite signs1 rather than interpret his revelations1 or shall we say preach8 ,admitting all the inspiration and help that ,sartor ,resartus has given in spite of its vaudeville and tragic stages1 to many young men getting under way in the life of tailor or king1 we believe it can be said 7but very broadly said7 that ,emerson1 either in the first or second series of essays1 taken as a whole1 gives1 it seems to us1 greater inspiration1 partly because his manner is less didactic1 less personally suggestive1 perhaps less clearly or obviously human than ,carlyle's4 ,how direct this inspiration is is a matter of personal viewpoint1 temperament1 perhaps inheritance4 ,augustine ,birrell says he does not feel it--and he seems not to even indirectly4 ,apparently a non-sequacious author can't inspire him1 for ,emerson seems to him a little thin and vague4 ,is ,emerson or the ,english climate to blame for this8 ,he1 ,birrell1 says a really great author dissipates all fears as to his staying power4 7,though fears for our staying-power1 not ,emerson's1 is what we would like dissipated47 ,besides1 around a really great author1 there are no fears to dissipate4 ,a wise author never allows his reader's mind to be at large1 but ,emerson is not a wise author4 ,his essay on ,prudence has nothing to do with prudence1 for to be wise and prudent he must put explanation first1 and let his substance dissolve because of it4 ,how carefully1 says ,birrell again1 a really great author like ,dr4 ,newman1 or ,m4 ,renan1 explains to you what he is going to do1 and how he is going to do it4 ,personally we like the chance of having a hand in the explaining4 ,we prefer to look at flowers1 but not through a botany1 for it seems that if we look at them alone1 we see a beauty of ,nature's poetry1 a direct gift from the ,divine1 and if we look at botany alone1 we see the beauty of ,nature's intellect1 a direct gift of the ,divine--if we look at both together1 we see nothing4 ,thus it seems that ,carlyle and ,birrell would have it that courage and humility have something to do with explanation--and that it is not a respect for all--a faith in the power of innate virtue to perceive by relativeness rather than penetration--that causes ,emerson to withhold explanation to a greater degree than many writers4 ,carlyle asks for more utility1 and ,birrell for more inspiration4 ,but we like to believe that it is the height of ,emerson's character1 evidenced especially in his courage and humility that shades its quality1 rather than that its virtue is less--that it is his height that will make him more and more valuable and more and more within the reach of all--whether it be by utility1 inspiration1 or other needs of the human soul4 ,cannot some of the most valuable kinds of utility and inspiration come from humility in its highest and purest forms8 ,for is not the truest kind of humility a kind of glorified or transcendent democracy--the practicing it rather than the talking it--the not-wanting to level all finite things1 but the being willing to be leveled towards the infinite8 ,until humility produces that frame of mind and spirit in the artist can his audience gain the greatest kind of utility and inspiration1 which might be quite invisible at first8 ,emerson realizes the value of the many1--that the law of averages has a divine source4 ,he recognizes the various life-values in reality--not by reason of their closeness or remoteness1 but because he sympathizes with men who live them1 and the majority do4 ,the private store of reason is not great--would that there were a public store for man1 cries ,pascal1 but there is1 says ,emerson1 it is the universal mind1 an institution congenital with the common or over-soul4 ,pascal is discouraged1 for he lets himself be influenced by surface political and religious history which shows the struggle of the group1 led by an individual1 rather than that of the individual led by himself--a struggle as much privately caused as privately led4 ,the main-path of all social progress has been spiritual rather than intellectual in character1 but the many bypaths of individual-materialism1 though never obliterating the highway1 have dimmed its outlines and caused travelers to confuse the colors along the road4 ,a more natural way of freeing the congestion in the benefits of material progress will make it less difficult for the majority to recognize the true relation between the important spiritual and religious values and the less important intellectual and economic values4 ,as the action of the intellect and universal mind becomes more and more identical1 the clearer will the relation of all values become4 ,but for physical reasons1 the group has had to depend upon the individual as leaders1 and the leaders with few exceptions restrained the universal mind--they trusted to the private store1 but now1 thanks to the lessons of evolution1 which ,nature has been teaching men since and before the days of ,socrates1 the public store of reason is gradually taking the place of the once-needed leader4 ,from the ,chaldean tablet to the wireless message this public store has been wonderfully opened4 ,the results of these lessons1 the possibilities they are offering for ever coordinating the mind of humanity1 the culmination of this age-instruction1 are seen today in many ways4 ,labor ,federation1 ,suffrage ,extension1 are two instances that come to mind among the many4 ,in these manifestations1 by reason of tradition1 or the bad-habit part of tradition1 the hog-mind of the few 7the minority71 comes in play4 ,the possessors of this are called leaders1 but even these thick-skins are beginning to see that the ,,movement is the leader1 and that they are only clerks4 ,broadly speaking1 the effects evidenced in the political side of history have so much of the physical because the causes have been so much of the physical4 ,as a result the leaders for the most part have been under-average men1 with skins thick1 wits slick1 and hands quick with under-values1 otherwise they would not have become leaders4 ,but the day of leaders1 as such1 is gradually closing--the people are beginning to lead themselves--the public store of reason is slowly being opened--the common universal mind and the common over-soul is slowly but inevitably coming into its own4 ,let a man believe in ,god1 not in names and places and persons4 ,let the great soul incarnated in some poor 444 sad and simple ,joan1 go out to service and sweep chimneys and scrub floors 444 its effulgent day beams cannot be muffled444 and then to sweep and scrub will instantly appear supreme and beautiful actions 444 and all people will get brooms and mops4 ,perhaps1 if all of ,emerson--his works and his life--were to be swept away1 and nothing of him but the record of the following incident remained to men--the influence of his soul would still be great4 ,a working woman after coming from one of his lectures said3 ,i love to go to hear ,emerson1 not because ,i understand him1 but because he looks as though he thought everybody was as good as he was4 ,is it not the courage--the spiritual hopefulness in his humility that makes this story possible and true8 ,is it not this trait in his character that sets him above all creeds--that gives him inspired belief in the common mind and soul8 ,is it not this courageous universalism that gives conviction to his prophecy and that makes his symphonies of revelation begin and end with nothing but the strength and beauty of innate goodness in man1 in ,nature and in ,god1 the greatest and most inspiring theme of ,concord ,transcendental ,philosophy1 as we hear it4 ,and it is from such a world-compelling theme and from such vantage ground1 that ,emerson rises to almost perfect freedom of action1 of thought and of soul1 in any direction and to any height4 ,a vantage ground1 somewhat vaster than ,schelling's conception of transcendental philosophy--a philosophy of ,nature become subjective4 ,in ,concord it includes the objective and becomes subjective to nothing but freedom and the absolute law4 ,it is this underlying courage of the purest humility that gives ,emerson that outward aspect of serenity which is felt to so great an extent in much of his work1 especially in his codas and perorations4 ,and within this poised strength1 we are conscious of that original authentic fire which ,emerson missed in ,shelley--we are conscious of something that is not dispassionate1 something that is at times almost turbulent--a kind of furious calm lying deeply in the conviction of the eventual triumph of the soul and its union with ,god6 ,let us place the transcendent ,emerson where he1 himself1 places ,milton1 in ,wordsworth's apostrophe3 ,pure as the naked heavens1 majestic1 free1 so didst thou travel on life's common way in cheerful ,godliness4 ,the ,godliness of spiritual courage and hopefulness--these fathers of faith rise to a glorified peace in the depth of his greater perorations4 ,there is an oracle at the beginning of the ,fifth ,symphony--in those four notes lies one of ,beethoven's greatest messages4 ,we would place its translation above the relentlessness of fate knocking at the door1 above the greater human-message of destiny1 and strive to bring it towards the spiritual message of ,emerson's revelations--even to the common heart of ,concord--the ,soul of humanity knocking at the door of the ,divine mysteries1 radiant in the faith that it will be opened--and the human become the ,divine6 ,,iii--,hawthorne ,the substance of ,hawthorne is so dripping wet with the supernatural1 the phantasmal1 the mystical--so surcharged with adventures1 from the deeper picturesque to the illusive fantastic1 one unconsciously finds oneself thinking of him as a poet of greater imaginative impulse than ,emerson or ,thoreau4 ,he was not a greater poet possibly than they--but a greater artist4 ,not only the character of his substance1 but the care in his manner throws his workmanship1 in contrast to theirs1 into a kind of bas-relief4 ,like ,poe he quite naturally and unconsciously reaches out over his subject to his reader4 ,his mesmerism seeks to mesmerize us--beyond ,zenobia's sister4 ,but he is too great an artist to show his hand in getting his audience1 as ,poe and ,tschaikowsky occasionally do4 ,his intellectual muscles are too strong to let him become over-influenced1 as ,ravel and ,stravinsky seem to be by the morbidly fascinating--a kind of false beauty obtained by artistic monotony4 ,however1 we cannot but feel that he would weave his spell over us--as would the ,grimms and ,aesop4 ,we feel as much under magic as the ,enchanted ,frog4 ,this is part of the artist's business4 ,the effect is a part of his art-effort in its inception4 ,emerson's substance and even his manner has little to do with a designed effect--his thunderbolts or delicate fragments are flashed out regardless--they may knock us down or just spatter us--it matters little to him--but ,hawthorne is more considerate2 that is1 he is more artistic1 as men say4 ,hawthorne may be more noticeably indigenous or may have more local color1 perhaps more national color than his ,concord contemporaries4 ,but the work of anyone who is somewhat more interested in psychology than in transcendental philosophy1 will weave itself around individuals and their personalities4 ,if the same anyone happens to live in ,salem1 his work is likely to be colored by the ,salem wharves and ,salem witches4 ,if the same anyone happens to live in the ,old ,manse near the ,concord ,battle ,bridge1 he is likely of a rainy day to betake himself to the huge garret1 the secrets of which he wonders at1 but is too reverent of their dust and cobwebs to disturb4 ,he is likely to bow below the shriveled canvas of an old 7,puritan7 clergyman in wig and gown--the parish priest of a century ago--a friend of ,whitefield4 ,he is likely to come under the spell of this reverend ,ghost who haunts the ,manse and as it rains and darkens and the sky glooms through the dusty attic windows1 he is likely to muse deeply and wonderingly upon the humiliating fact that the works of man's intellect decay like those of his hands 444 that thought grows moldy1 and as the garret is in ,massachusetts1 the thought and the mold are likely to be quite native4 ,when the same anyone puts his poetry into novels rather than essays1 he is likely to have more to say about the life around him--about the inherited mystery of the town--than a poet of philosophy is4 ,in ,hawthorne's usual vicinity1 the atmosphere was charged with the somber errors and romance of eighteenth century ,new ,england1--ascetic or noble ,new ,england as you like4 ,a novel1 of necessity1 nails an art-effort down to some definite part or parts of the earth's surface--the novelist's wagon can't always be hitched to a star4 ,to say that ,hawthorne was more deeply interested than some of the other ,concord writers--,emerson1 for example--in the idealism peculiar to his native land 7in so far as such idealism of a country can be conceived of as separate from the political7 would be as unreasoning as to hold that he was more interested in social progress than ,thoreau1 because he was in the consular service and ,thoreau was in no one's service--or that the ,war ,governor of ,massachusetts was a greater patriot than ,wendell ,phillips1 who was ashamed of all political parties4 ,hawthorne's art was true and typically ,american--as is the art of all men living in ,america who believe in freedom of thought and who live wholesome lives to prove it1 whatever their means of expression4 ,any comprehensive conception of ,hawthorne1 either in words or music1 must have for its basic theme something that has to do with the influence of sin upon the conscience--something more than the ,puritan conscience1 but something which is permeated by it4 ,in this relation he is wont to use what ,hazlitt calls the moral power of imagination4 ,hawthorne would try to spiritualize a guilty conscience4 ,he would sing of the relentlessness of guilt1 the inheritance of guilt1 the shadow of guilt darkening innocent posterity4 ,all of its sins and morbid horrors1 its specters1 its phantasmas1 and even its hellish hopelessness play around his pages1 and vanishing between the lines are the less guilty ,elves of the ,concord ,elms1 which ,thoreau and ,old ,man ,alcott may have felt1 but knew not as intimately as ,hawthorne4 ,there is often a pervading melancholy about ,hawthorne1 as ,faguet says of de ,musset without posture1 without noise but penetrating4 ,there is at times the mysticism and serenity of the ocean1 which ,jules ,michelet sees in its horizon rather than in its waters4 ,there is a sensitiveness to supernatural sound waves4 ,hawthorne feels the mysteries and tries to paint them rather than explain them--and here1 some may say that he is wiser in a more practical way and so more artistic than ,emerson4 ,perhaps so1 but no greater in the deeper ranges and profound mysteries of the interrelated worlds of human and spiritual life4 ,this fundamental part of ,hawthorne is not attempted in our music 7the #bnd movement of the series7 which is but an extended fragment trying to suggest some of his wilder1 fantastical adventures into the half-childlike1 half-fairylike phantasmal realms4 ,it may have something to do with the children's excitement on that frosty ,berkshire morning1 and the frost imagery on the enchanted hall window or something to do with ,feathertop1 the ,scarecrow1 and his ,looking ,glass and the little demons dancing around his pipe bowl2 or something to do with the old hymn tune that haunts the church and sings only to those in the churchyard1 to protect them from secular noises1 as when the circus parade comes down ,main ,street2 or something to do with the concert at the ,stamford camp meeting1 or the ,slave's ,shuffle2 or something to do with the ,concord he-nymph1 or the ,seven ,vagabonds1 or ,circe's ,palace1 or something else in the wonderbook--not something that happens1 but the way something happens2 or something to do with the ,celestial ,railroad1 or ,phoebe's ,garden1 or something personal1 which tries to be national suddenly at twilight1 and universal suddenly at midnight2 or something about the ghost of a man who never lived1 or about something that never will happen1 or something else that is not4 ,,iv--,the ,alcotts ,if the dictagraph had been perfected in ,bronson ,alcott's time1 he might now be a great writer4 ,as it is1 he goes down as ,concord's greatest talker4 ,great expecter1 says ,thoreau2 great feller1 says ,sam ,staples1 for talkin' big 444 but his daughters is the gals though--always ,,doin' somethin'4 ,old ,man ,alcott1 however1 was usually doin' somethin' within4 ,an internal grandiloquence made him melodious without2 an exuberant1 irrepressible1 visionary absorbed with philosophy ,,as such2 to him it was a kind of transcendental business1 the profits of which supported his inner man rather than his family4 ,apparently his deep interest in spiritual physics1 rather than metaphysics1 gave a kind of hypnotic mellifluous effect to his voice when he sang his oracles2 a manner something of a cross between an inside pompous self-assertion and an outside serious benevolence4 ,but he was sincere and kindly intentioned in his eagerness to extend what he could of the better influence of the philosophic world as he saw it4 ,in fact1 there is a strong didactic streak in both father and daughter4 ,louisa ,may seldom misses a chance to bring out the moral of a homely virtue4 ,the power of repetition was to them a natural means of illustration4 ,it is said that the elder ,alcott1 while teaching school1 would frequently whip himself when the scholars misbehaved1 to show that the ,divine ,teacher-,god-was pained when his children of the earth were bad4 ,quite often the boy next to the bad boy was punished1 to show how sin involved the guiltless4 ,and ,miss ,alcott is fond of working her story around1 so that she can better rub in a moral precept--and the moral sometimes browbeats the story4 ,but with all the elder ,alcott's vehement1 impracticable1 visionary qualities1 there was a sturdiness and a courage--at least1 we like to think so4 ,a ,yankee boy who would cheerfully travel in those days1 when distances were long and unmotored1 as far from ,connecticut as the ,carolinas1 earning his way by peddling1 laying down his pack to teach school when opportunity offered1 must possess a basic sturdiness4 ,this was apparently not very evident when he got to preaching his idealism4 ,an incident in ,alcott's life helps confirm a theory--not a popular one--that men accustomed to wander around in the visionary unknown are the quickest and strongest when occasion requires ready action of the lower virtues4 ,it often appears that a contemplative mind is more capable of action than an actively objective one4 ,dr4 ,emerson says3 ,it is good to know that it has been recorded of ,alcott1 the benign idealist1 that when the ,rev4 ,thomas ,wentworth ,higginson1 heading the rush on the ,u4,s4 ,court ,house in ,boston1 to rescue a fugitive slave1 looked back for his following at the court-room door1 only the apostolic philosopher was there cane in hand4 ,so it seems that his idealism had some substantial virtues1 even if he couldn't make a living4 ,the daughter does not accept the father as a prototype--she seems to have but few of her father's qualities in female4 ,she supported the family and at the same time enriched the lives of a large part of young ,america1 starting off many little minds with wholesome thoughts and many little hearts with wholesome emotions4 ,she leaves memory-word-pictures of healthy1 ,new ,england childhood days1--pictures which are turned to with affection by middle-aged children1--pictures1 that bear a sentiment1 a leaven1 that middle-aged ,america needs nowadays more than we care to admit4 ,concord village1 itself1 reminds one of that common virtue lying at the height and root of all the ,concord divinities4 ,as one walks down the broad-arched street1 passing the white house of ,emerson--ascetic guard of a former prophetic beauty--he comes presently beneath the old elms overspreading the ,alcott house4 ,it seems to stand as a kind of homely but beautiful witness of ,concord's common virtue--it seems to bear a consciousness that its past is ,,living1 that the mosses of the ,old ,manse and the hickories of ,walden are not far away4 ,here is the home of the ,marches--all pervaded with the trials and happiness of the family and telling1 in a simple way1 the story of the richness of not having4 ,within the house1 on every side1 lie remembrances of what imagination can do for the better amusement of fortunate children who have to do for themselves-much-needed lessons in these days of automatic1 ready-made1 easy entertainment which deaden rather than stimulate the creative faculty4 ,and there sits the little old spinet-piano ,sophia ,thoreau gave to the ,alcott children1 on which ,beth played the old ,scotch airs1 and played at the ,fifth ,symphony4 ,there is a commonplace beauty about ,orchard ,house--a kind of spiritual sturdiness underlying its quaint picturesqueness--a kind of common triad of the ,new ,england homestead1 whose overtones tell us that there must have been something aesthetic fibered in the ,puritan severity--the self-sacrificing part of the ideal--a value that seems to stir a deeper feeling1 a stronger sense of being nearer some perfect truth than a ,gothic cathedral or an ,etruscan villa4 ,all around you1 under the ,concord sky1 there still floats the influence of that human faith melody1 transcendent and sentimental enough for the enthusiast or the cynic respectively1 reflecting an innate hope--a common interest in common things and common men--a tune the ,concord bards are ever playing1 while they pound away at the immensities with a ,beethovenlike sublimity1 and with1 may we say1 a vehemence and perseverance--for that part of greatness is not so difficult to emulate4 ,we dare not attempt to follow the philosophic raptures of ,bronson ,alcott--unless you will assume that his apotheosis will show how practical his vision in this world would be in the next4 ,and so we won't try to reconcile the music sketch of the ,alcotts with much besides the memory of that home under the elms--the ,scotch songs and the family hymns that were sung at the end of each day--though there may be an attempt to catch something of that common sentiment 7which we have tried to suggest above7-a strength of hope that never gives way to despair--a conviction in the power of the common soul which1 when all is said and done1 may be as typical as any theme of ,concord and its transcendentalists4 ,v--,thoreau ,thoreau was a great musician1 not because he played the flute but because he did not have to go to ,boston to hear the ,symphony4 ,the rhythm of his prose1 were there nothing else1 would determine his value as a composer4 ,he was divinely conscious of the enthusiasm of ,nature1 the emotion of her rhythms and the harmony of her solitude4 ,in this consciousness he sang of the submission to ,nature1 the religion of contemplation1 and the freedom of simplicity--a philosophy distinguishing between the complexity of ,nature which teaches freedom1 and the complexity of materialism which teaches slavery4 ,in music1 in poetry1 in all art1 the truth as one sees it must be given in terms which bear some proportion to the inspiration4 ,in their greatest moments the inspiration of both ,beethoven and ,thoreau express profound truths and deep sentiment1 but the intimate passion of it1 the storm and stress of it1 affected ,beethoven in such a way that he could not but be ever showing it and ,thoreau that he could not easily expose it4 ,they were equally imbued with it1 but with different results4 ,a difference in temperament had something to do with this1 together with a difference in the quality of expression between the two arts4 ,who that has heard a strain of music feared lest he would speak extravagantly forever1 says ,thoreau4 ,perhaps music is the art of speaking extravagantly4 ,herbert ,spencer says that some men1 as for instance ,mozart1 are so peculiarly sensitive to emotion 444 that music is to them but a continuation not only of the expression but of the actual emotion1 though the theory of some more modern thinkers in the philosophy of art doesn't always bear this out4 ,however1 there is no doubt that in its nature music is predominantly subjective and tends to subjective expression1 and poetry more objective tending to objective expression4 ,hence the poet when his muse calls for a deeper feeling must invert this order1 and he may be reluctant to do so as these depths often call for an intimate expression which the physical looks of the words may repel4 ,they tend to reveal the nakedness of his soul rather than its warmth4 ,it is not a matter of the relative value of the aspiration1 or a difference between subconsciousness and consciousness but a difference in the arts themselves2 for example1 a composer may not shrink from having the public hear his love letter in tones1 while a poet may feel sensitive about having everyone read his letter in words4 ,when the object of the love is mankind the sensitiveness is changed only in degree4 ,but the message of ,thoreau1 though his fervency may be inconstant and his human appeal not always direct1 is1 both in thought and spirit1 as universal as that of any man who ever wrote or sang--as universal as it is nontemporaneous--as universal as it is free from the measure of history1 as solitude is free from the measure of the miles of space that intervene between man and his fellows4 ,in spite of the fact that ,henry ,james 7who knows almost everything7 says that ,thoreau is more than provincial--that he is parochial1 let us repeat that ,henry ,thoreau1 in respect to thought1 sentiment1 imagination1 and soul1 in respect to every element except that of place of physical being--a thing that means so much to some--is as universal as any personality in literature4 ,that he said upon being shown a specimen grass from ,iceland that the same species could be found in ,concord is evidence of his universality1 not of his parochialism4 ,he was so universal that he did not need to travel around the world to ,,prove it4 ,i have more of ,god1 they more of the road4 ,it is not worth while to go around the world to count the cats in ,zanzibar4 ,with ,marcus ,aurelius1 if he had seen the present he had seen all1 from eternity and all time forever4 ,thoreau's susceptibility to natural sounds was probably greater than that of many practical musicians4 ,true1 this appeal is mainly through the sensational element which ,herbert ,spencer thinks the predominant beauty of music4 ,thoreau seems able to weave from this source some perfect transcendental symphonies4 ,strains from the ,orient get the best of some of the modern ,french music but not of ,thoreau4 ,he seems more interested in than influenced by ,oriental philosophy4 ,he admires its ways of resignation and self-contemplation but he doesn't contemplate himself in the same way4 ,he often quotes from the ,eastern scriptures passages which were they his own he would probably omit1 i4e41 the ,vedas say all intelligences awake with the morning4 ,this seems unworthy of accompanying the undulations of celestial music found on this same page1 in which an ode to morning is sung--the awakening to newly acquired forces and aspirations from within to a higher life than we fell asleep from 444 for all memorable events transpire in the morning time and in the morning atmosphere4 ,thus it is not the whole tone scale of the ,orient but the scale of a ,walden morning--music in single strains1 as ,emerson says1 which inspired many of the polyphonies and harmonies that come to us through his poetry4 ,who can be forever melancholy with ,aeolian music like this8 ,this is but one of many ways in which ,thoreau looked to ,nature for his greatest inspirations4 ,in her he found an analogy to the ,fundamental of ,transcendentalism4 ,the innate goodness of ,nature is or can be a moral influence2 ,mother ,nature1 if man will but let her1 will keep him straight--straight spiritually and so morally and even mentally4 ,if he will take her as a companion1 and teacher1 and not as a duty or a creed1 she will give him greater thrills and teach him greater truths than man can give or teach--she will reveal mysteries that mankind has long concealed4 ,it was the soul of ,nature not natural history that ,thoreau was after4 ,a naturalist's mind is one predominantly scientific1 more interested in the relation of a flower to other flowers than its relation to any philosophy or anyone's philosophy4 ,a transcendent love of ,nature and writing ,rhus glabra after sumac doesn't necessarily make a naturalist4 ,it would seem that although thorough in observation 7not very thorough according to ,mr4 ,burroughs7 and with a keen perception of the specific1 a naturalist--inherently--was exactly what ,thoreau was not4 ,he seems rather to let ,nature put him under her microscope than to hold her under his4 ,he was too fond of ,nature to practice vivisection upon her4 ,he would have found that painful1 for was he not a part with her8 ,but he had this trait of a naturalist1 which is usually foreign to poets1 even great ones2 he observed acutely even things that did not particularly interest him--a useful natural gift rather than a virtue4 ,the study of ,nature may tend to make one dogmatic1 but the love of ,nature surely does not4 ,thoreau no more than ,emerson could be said to have compounded doctrines4 ,his thinking was too broad for that4 ,if ,thoreau's was a religion of ,nature1 as some say1--and by that they mean that through ,nature's influence man is brought to a deeper contemplation1 to a more spiritual self-scrutiny1 and thus closer to ,god1--it had apparently no definite doctrines4 ,some of his theories regarding natural and social phenomena and his experiments in the art of living are certainly not doctrinal in form1 and if they are in substance it didn't disturb ,thoreau and it needn't us444 ,in proportion as he simplifies his life the laws of the universe will appear less complex and solitude will not be solitude1 nor poverty poverty1 nor weakness weakness4 ,if you have built castles in the air your work need not be lost2 that is where they should be1 now put the foundations under them4 444 ,then we will love with the license of a higher order of beings4 ,is that a doctrine8 ,perhaps4 ,at any rate1 between the lines of some such passage as this lie some of the fountain heads that water the spiritual fields of his philosophy and the seeds from which they are sown 7if indeed his whole philosophy is but one spiritual garden74 ,his experiments1 social and economic1 are a part of its cultivation and for the harvest--and its transmutation1 he trusts to moments of inspiration--only what is thought1 said1 and done at a certain rare coincidence is good4 ,thoreau's experiment at ,walden was1 broadly speaking1 one of these moments4 ,it stands out in the casual and popular opinion as a kind of adventure--harmless and amusing to some1 significant and important to others2 but its significance lies in the fact that in trying to practice an ideal he prepared his mind so that it could better bring others into the ,walden-state-of-mind4 ,he did not ask for a literal approval1 or in fact for any approval4 ,i would not stand between any man and his genius4 ,he would have no one adopt his manner of life1 unless in doing so he adopts his own--besides1 by that time ,i may have found a better one4 ,but if he preached hard he practiced harder what he preached--harder than most men4 ,throughout ,walden a text that he is always pounding out is ,time4 ,time for inside work out-of-doors2 preferably out-of-doors1 though you perhaps may have some pleasant1 thrilling1 glorious hours1 even in a poor house4 ,wherever the place--time there must be4 ,time to show the unnecessariness of necessities which clog up time4 ,time to contemplate the value of man to the universe1 of the universe to man1 man's excuse for being4 ,time ,,from the demands of social conventions4 ,time ,,from too much labor for some1 which means too much to eat1 too much to wear1 too much material1 too much materialism for others4 ,time ,,from the hurry and waste of life4 ,time ,,from the ,st4 ,vitus ,dance4 ,,but1 on the other side of the ledger1 time ,,for learning that there is no safety in stupidity alone4 ,time ,,for introspection4 ,time ,,for reality4 ,time ,,for expansion4 ,time ,,for practicing the art1 of living the art of living4 ,thoreau has been criticized for practicing his policy of expansion by living in a vacuum--but he peopled that vacuum with a race of beings and established a social order there1 surpassing any of the precepts in social or political history4 444for he put some things behind and passed an invisible boundary2 new1 universal1 and more liberal laws were around and within him1 the old laws were expanded and interpreted in a more liberal sense and he lived with the license of a higher order--a community in which ,god was the only ,president and ,thoreau not ,webster was ,his ,orator4 ,it is hard to believe that ,thoreau really refused to believe that there was any other life but his own1 though he probably did think that there was not any other life besides his own for him4 ,living for society may not always be best accomplished by living ,,with society4 ,is there any virtue in a man's skin that you must touch it8 and the rubbing of elbows may not bring men's minds closer together2 or if he were talking through a worst seller 7magazine7 that had to put it over he might say1 forty thousand souls at a ball game does not1 necessarily1 make baseball the highest expression of spiritual emotion4 ,thoreau1 however1 is no cynic1 either in character or thought1 though in a side glance at himself1 he may have held out to be one2 a cynic in independence1 possibly because of his rule laid down that self-culture admits of no compromise4 ,it is conceivable that though some of his philosophy and a good deal of his personality1 in some of its manifestations1 have outward colors that do not seem to harmonize1 the true and intimate relations they bear each other are not affected4 ,this peculiarity1 frequently seen in his attitude towards social-economic problems1 is perhaps more emphasized in some of his personal outbursts4 ,i love my friends very much1 but ,i find that it is of no use to go to see them4 ,i hate them commonly when ,i am near4 ,it is easier to see what he means than it is to forgive him for saying it4 ,the cause of this apparent lack of harmony between philosophy and personality1 as far as they can be separated1 may have been due to his refusal to keep the very delicate balance which ,mr4 ,van ,doren in his ,critical ,study of ,thoreau says it is necessary for a great and good man to keep between his public and private lives1 between his own personality and the whole outside universe of personalities4 ,somehow one feels that if he had kept this balance he would have lost hitting power4 ,again1 it seems that something of the above depends upon the degree of greatness or goodness4 ,a very great and especially a very good man has no separate private and public life4 ,his own personality though not identical with outside personalities is so clear or can be so clear to them that it appears identical1 and as the world progresses towards its inevitable perfection this appearance becomes more and more a reality4 ,for the same reason that all great men now agree1 in principle but not in detail1 in so far as words are able to communicate agreement1 on the great fundamental truths4 ,someone says3 ,be specific--what great fundamentals8 ,freedom over slavery2 the natural over the artificial2 beauty over ugliness2 the spiritual over the material2 the goodness of man2 the ,godness of man2 have been greater if he hadn't written plays4 ,some say that a true composer will never write an opera because a truly brave man will not take a drink to keep up his courage2 which is not the same thing as saying that ,shakespeare is not the greatest figure in all literature2 in fact1 it is an attempt to say that many novels1 most operas1 all ,shakespeares1 and all brave men and women 7rum or no rum7 are among the noblest blessings with which ,god has endowed mankind--because1 not being perfect1 they are perfect examples pointing to that perfection which nothing yet has attained4 ,thoreau's mysticism at times throws him into elusive moods--but an elusiveness held by a thread to something concrete and specific1 for he had too much integrity of mind for any other kind4 ,in these moments it is easier to follow his thought than to follow him4 ,indeed1 if he were always easy to follow1 after one had caught up with him1 one might find that it was not ,thoreau4 ,it is1 however1 with no mystic rod that he strikes at institutional life4 ,here again he felt the influence of the great transcendental doctrine of innate goodness in human nature--a reflection of the like in nature2 a philosophic part which1 by the way1 was a more direct inheritance in ,thoreau than in his brother transcendentalists4 ,for besides what he received from a native ,unitarianism a good part must have descended to him through his ,huguenot blood from the eighteenth-century ,french philosophy4 ,we trace a reason here for his lack of interest in the church4 ,for if revealed religion is the path between ,god and man's spiritual part--a kind of formal causeway--,thoreau's highly developed spiritual life felt1 apparently unconsciously1 less need of it than most men4 ,but he might have been more charitable towards those who do need it 7and most of us do7 if he had been more conscious of his freedom4 ,those who look today for the cause of a seeming deterioration in the influence of the church may find it in a wider development of this feeling of ,thoreau's2 that the need is less because there is more of the spirit of ,christianity in the world today4 ,another cause for his attitude towards the church as an institution is one always too common among the narrow minds to have influenced ,thoreau4 ,he could have been more generous4 ,he took the arc for the circle1 the exception for the rule1 the solitary bad example for the many good ones4 ,his persistent emphasis on the value of example may excuse this lower viewpoint4 ,the silent influence of the example of one sincere life 444 has benefited society more than all the projects devised for its salvation4 ,he has little patience for the unpracticing preacher4 ,in some countries a hunting parson is no uncommon sight4 ,such a one might make a good shepherd dog but is far from being a good shepherd4 ,it would have been interesting to have seen him handle the speculating parson1 who takes a good salary--more per annum than all the disciples had to sustain their bodies during their whole lives--from a metropolitan religious corporation for speculating on ,sunday about the beauty of poverty1 who preaches3 ,take no thought 7for your life7 what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet what ye shall put on 444 lay not up for yourself treasure upon earth 444 take up thy cross and follow me2 who on ,monday becomes a speculating disciple of another god1 and by questionable investments1 successful enough to get into the press1 seeks to lay up a treasure of a million dollars for his old age1 as if a million dollars could keep such a man out of the poor-house4 ,thoreau might observe that this one good example of ,christian degeneracy undoes all the acts of regeneracy of a thousand humble five-hundred-dollar country parsons2 that it out-influences the unconscious influence of a dozen ,dr4 ,bushnells if there be that many2 that the repentance of this man who did not fall from grace because he never fell into it--that this unnecessary repentance might save this man's own soul but not necessarily the souls of the million head-line readers2 that repentance would put this preacher right with the powers that be in this world--and the next4 ,thoreau might pass a remark upon this man's intimacy with ,god as if he had a monopoly of the subject--an intimacy that perhaps kept him from asking ,god exactly what his ,son meant by the camel1 the needle--to say nothing of the rich man4 ,thoreau might have wondered how this man ,,nailed ,,down the last plank in ,,his bridge to salvation1 by rising to sublime heights of patriotism1 in ,,his war against materialism2 but would even ,thoreau be so unfeeling as to suggest to this exhorter that ,,his salvation might be clinched if he would sacrifice his income 7not himself7 and come--in to a real ,salvation ,army1 or that the final triumph1 the supreme happiness in casting aside this mere #aj1jjj or #bj1jjj every year must be denied him--for was he not captain of the ship--must he not stick to his passengers 7in the first cabin--the very first cabin7--not that the ship was sinking but that he was 444 we will go no further4 ,even ,thoreau would not demand sacrifice for sacrifice sake--no1 not even from ,nature4 ,property from the standpoint of its influence in checking natural self-expansion and from the standpoint of personal and inherent right is another institution that comes in for straight and cross-arm jabs1 now to the stomach1 now to the head1 but seldom sparring for breath4 ,for does he not say that wherever a man goes1 men will pursue him with their dirty institutions8 ,the influence of property1 as he saw it1 on morality or immorality and how through this it mayor should influence government is seen by the following3 ,i am convinced that if all men were to live as simply as ,i did1 then thieving and robbery would be unknown4 ,these take place only in communities where some have got more than is sufficient while others have not enough-- ,nec bella fuerunt1 ,faginus astabat dum ,scyphus ante dapes-- ,you who govern public affairs1 what need have you to employ punishments8 ,have virtue and the people will be virtuous4 ,if ,thoreau had made the first sentence read3 ,if all men were like me and were to live as simply1 etc41 everyone would agree with him4 ,we may wonder here how he would account for some of the degenerate types we are told about in some of our backwoods and mountain regions4 ,possibly by assuming that they are an instance of perversion of the species4 ,that the little civilizing their forbears experienced rendered these people more susceptible to the physical than to the spiritual influence of nature2 in other words2 if they had been purer naturists1 as the ,aztecs for example1 they would have been purer men4 ,instead of turning to any theory of ours or of ,thoreau for the true explanation of this condition--which is a kind of pseudo-naturalism--for its true diagnosis and permanent cure1 are we not far more certain to find it in the radiant look of humility1 love1 and hope in the strong faces of those inspired souls who are devoting their lives with no little sacrifice to these outcasts of civilization and nature4 ,in truth1 may not mankind find the solution of its eternal problem--find it after and beyond the last1 most perfect system of wealth distribution which science can ever devise--after and beyond the last sublime echo of the greatest socialistic symphonies--after and beyond every transcendent thought and expression in the simple example of these ,christ-inspired souls--be they ,pagan1 ,gentile1 ,jew1 or angel4 ,however1 underlying the practical or impractical suggestions implied in the quotation above1 which is from the last paragraph of ,thoreau's ,village1 is the same transcendental theme of innate goodness4 ,for this reason there must be no limitation except that which will free mankind from limitation1 and from a perversion of this innate possession3 ,and property may be one of the causes of this perversion--property in the two relations cited above4 ,it is conceivable that ,thoreau1 to the consternation of the richest members of the ,bolsheviki and ,bourgeois1 would propose a policy of liberation1 a policy of a limited personal property right1 on the ground that congestion of personal property tends to limit the progress of the soul 7as well as the progress of the stomach7--letting the economic noise thereupon take care of itself--for dissonances are becoming beautiful--and do not the same waters that roar in a storm take care of the eventual calm8 ,that this limit of property be determined not by the ,,voice of the majority but by the ,,brain of the majority under a government limited to no national boundaries4 ,the government of the world ,i live in is not framed in after-dinner conversation--around a table in a capital city1 for there is no capital--a government of principles not parties2 of a few fundamental truths and not of many political expediencies4 ,a government conducted by virtuous leaders1 for it will be led by all1 for all are virtuous1 as then their innate virtue will no more be perverted by unnatural institutions4 ,this will not be a millennium but a practical and possible application of uncommon common sense4 ,for is it not sense1 common or otherwise1 for ,nature to want to hand back the earth to those to whom it belongs--that is1 to those who have to live on it8 ,is it not sense1 that the average brains like the average stomachs will act rightly if they have an equal amount of the right kind of food to act upon and universal education is on the way with the right kind of food8 ,is it not sense then that all grown men and women 7for all are necessary to work out the divine law of averages7 shall have a direct not an indirect say about the things that go on in this world8 ,some of these attitudes1 ungenerous or radical1 generous or conservative 7as you will71 towards institutions dear to many1 have no doubt given impressions unfavorable to ,thoreau's thought and personality4 ,one hears him called1 by some who ought to know what they say and some who ought not1 a crabbed1 cold-hearted1 sour-faced ,yankee--a kind of a visionary sore-head--a cross-grained1 egotistic recluse1--even non-hearted4 ,but it is easier to make a statement than prove a reputation4 ,thoreau may be some of these things to those who make no distinction between these qualities and the manner which often comes as a kind of by-product of an intense devotion of a principle or ideal4 ,he was rude and unfriendly at times but shyness probably had something to do with that4 ,in spite of a certain self-possession he was diffident in most company1 but1 though he may have been subject to those spells when words do not rise and the mind seems wrapped in a kind of dull cloth which everyone dumbly stares at1 instead of looking through--he would easily get off a rejoinder upon occasion4 ,when a party of visitors came to ,walden and some one asked ,thoreau if he found it lonely there1 he replied3 ,only by your help4 ,a remark characteristic1 true1 rude1 if not witty4 ,the writer remembers hearing a schoolteacher in ,english literature dismiss ,thoreau 7and a half hour lesson1 in which time all of ,walden1--its surface--was sailed over7 by saying that this author 7he called everyone author from ,solomon down to ,dr4 ,parkhurst7 was a kind of a crank who styled himself a hermit-naturalist and who idled about the woods because he didn't want to work4 ,some such stuff is a common conception1 though not as common as it used to be4 ,if this teacher had had more brains1 it would have been a lie4 ,the word idled is the hopeless part of this criticism1 or rather of this uncritical remark4 ,to ask this kind of a man1 who plays all the choice gems from celebrated composers literally1 always literally1 and always with the loud pedal1 who plays all hymns1 wrong notes1 right notes1 games1 people1 and jokes literally1 and with the loud pedal1 who will die literally and with the loud pedal--to ask this man to smile even faintly at ,thoreau's humor is like casting a pearl before a coal baron4 ,emerson implies that there is one thing a genius must have to be a genius and that is mother wit4 444 ,doctor ,johnson1 ,milton1 ,chaucer1 and ,burns had it4 ,aunt ,mary ,moody ,emerson has it and can write scrap letters4 ,who has it need never write anything but scraps4 ,henry ,thoreau has it4 ,his humor though a part of this wit is not always as spontaneous1 for it is sometimes pun shape 7so is ,charles ,lamb's7--but it is nevertheless a kind that can serenely transport us and which we can enjoy without disturbing our neighbors4 ,if there are those who think him cold-hearted and with but little human sympathy1 let them read his letters to ,emerson's little daughter1 or hear ,dr4 ,emerson tell about the ,thoreau home life and the stories of his boyhood--the ministrations to a runaway slave2 or let them ask old ,sam ,staples1 the ,concord sheriff about him4 ,that he was fond of a few intimate friends1 but cared not one fig for people in the mass1 is a statement made in a school history and which is superficially true4 ,he cared too much for the masses--too much to let his personality be massed2 too much to be unable to realize the futility of wearing his heart on his sleeve but not of wearing his path to the shore of ,walden for future masses to walk over and perchance find the way to themselves4 ,some near-satirists are fond of telling us that ,thoreau came so close to ,nature that she killed him before he had discovered her whole secret4 ,they remind us that he died with consumption but forget that he lived with consumption4 ,and without using much charity1 this can be made to excuse many of his irascible and uncongenial moods4 ,you to whom that gaunt face seems forbidding--look into the eyes6 ,if he seems dry and priggish to you1 ,mr4 ,stevenson1 with little of that large unconscious geniality of the world's heroes1 follow him some spring morning to ,baker ,farm1 as he rambles through pine groves 444 like temples1 or like fleets at sea1 full-rigged1 with wavy boughs and rippling with light so soft and green and shady that the ,druids would have forsaken their oaks to worship in them4 ,follow him to the cedar wood beyond ,flint's ,pond1 where the trees covered with hoary blue berries1 spiring higher and higher1 are fit to stand before ,valhalla4 ,follow him1 but not too closely1 for you may see little1 if you do--as he walks in so pure and bright a light gilding its withered grass and leaves so softly and serenely bright that he thinks he has never bathed in such a golden flood4 ,follow him as he saunters towards the holy land till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever it has done1 perchance shine into your minds and hearts and light up your whole lives with a great awakening1 light as warm and serene and golden as on a bankside in autumn4 ,follow him through the golden flood to the shore of that holy land1 where he lies dying as men say--dying as bravely as he lived4 ,you may be near when his stern old aunt in the duty of her ,puritan conscience asks him3 ,have you made your peace with ,god8 and you may see his kindly smile as he replies1 ,i did not know that we had ever quarreled4 ,moments like these reflect more nobility and equanimity perhaps than geniality--qualities1 however1 more serviceable to world's heroes4 ,the personal trait that one who has affection for ,thoreau may find worst is a combative streak1 in which he too often takes refuge4 ,an obstinate elusiveness1 almost a contrary cussedness1 as if he would say1 which he didn't3 ,if a truth about something is not as ,i think it ought to be1 ,i'll make it what ,i think1 and it ,,will be the truth--but if you agree with me1 then ,i begin to think it may not be the truth4 ,the causes of these unpleasant colors 7rather than characteristics7 are too easily attributed to a lack of human sympathy or to the assumption that they are at least symbols of that lack instead of to a supersensitiveness1 magnified at times by ill health and at times by a subconsciousness of the futility of actually living out his ideals in this life4 ,it has been said that his brave hopes were unrealized anywhere in his career--but it is certain that they started to be realized on or about ,may #f1 #ahfb1 and we doubt if #aibj will end their fulfillment or his career4 ,but there were many in ,concord who knew that within their village there was a tree of wondrous growth1 the shadow of which--alas1 too frequently--was the only part they were allowed to touch4 ,emerson was one of these4 ,he was not only deeply conscious of ,thoreau's rare gifts but in the ,woodland ,notes pays a tribute to a side of his friend that many others missed4 ,emerson knew that ,thoreau's sensibilities too often veiled his nobilities1 that a self-cultivated stoicism ever fortified with sarcasm1 none the less securely because it seemed voluntary1 covered a warmth of feeling4 ,his great heart1 him a hermit made4 ,a breadth of heart not easily measured1 found only in the highest type of sentimentalists1 the type which does not perpetually discriminate in favor of mankind4 ,emerson has much of this sentiment and touches it when he sings of ,nature as the incarnation of a thought1 when he generously visualizes ,thoreau1 standing at the ,walden shore invoking the vision of a thought as it drifts heavenward into an incarnation of ,nature4 ,there is a ,godlike patience in ,nature1-in her mists1 her trees1 her mountains--as if she had a more abiding faith and a clearer vision than man of the resurrection and immortality6 ,there comes to memory an old yellow-papered composition of school-boy days whose peroration closed with ,poor ,thoreau2 he communed with nature for forty odd years1 and then died4 ,the forty odd years1--we'll still grant that part1 but he is over a hundred now1 and maybe1 ,mr4 ,lowell1 he is more lovable1 kindlier1 and more radiant with human sympathy today1 than1 perchance1 you were fifty years ago4 ,it may be that he is a far stronger1 a far greater1 an incalculably greater force in the moral and spiritual fibre of his fellow-countrymen throughout the world today than you dreamed of fifty years ago4 ,you1 ,james ,russell ,lowells6 ,you1 ,robert ,louis ,stevensons6 ,you1 ,mark ,van ,dorens6 with your literary perception1 your power of illumination1 your brilliancy of expression1 yea1 and with your love of sincerity1 you know your ,thoreau1 but not my ,thoreau--that reassuring and true friend1 who stood by me one low day1 when the sun had gone down1 long1 long before sunset4 ,you may know something of the affection that heart yearned for but knew it a duty not to grasp2 you may know something of the great human passions which stirred that soul--too deep for animate expression--you may know all of this1 all there is to know about ,thoreau1 but you know him not1 unless you love him6 ,and if there shall be a program for our music let it follow his thought on an autumn day of ,indian summer at ,walden--a shadow of a thought at first1 colored by the mist and haze over the pond3 ,low anchored cloud1 ,fountain head and ,source of rivers444 ,dew cloth1 dream drapery-- ,drifting meadow of the air4444 but this is momentary2 the beauty of the day moves him to a certain restlessness--to aspirations more specific--an eagerness for outward action1 but through it all he is conscious that it is not in keeping with the mood for this ,day4 ,as the mists rise1 there comes a clearer thought more traditional than the first1 a meditation more calm4 ,as he stands on the side of the pleasant hill of pines and hickories in front of his cabin1 he is still disturbed by a restlessness and goes down the white-pebbled and sandy eastern shore1 but it seems not to lead him where the thought suggests--he climbs the path along the bolder northern and western shore1 with deep bays indented1 and now along the railroad track1 where the ,aeolian harp plays4 ,but his eagerness throws him into the lithe1 springy stride of the specie hunter--the naturalist--he is still aware of a restlessness2 with these faster steps his rhythm is of shorter span--it is still not the tempo of ,nature1 it does not bear the mood that the genius of the day calls for1 it is too specific1 its nature is too external1 the introspection too buoyant1 and he knows now that he must let ,nature flow through him and slowly2 he releases his more personal desires to her broader rhythm1 conscious that this blends more and more with the harmony of her solitude2 it tells him that his search for freedom on that day1 at least1 lies in his submission to her1 for ,nature is as relentless as she is benignant4 ,he remains in this mood and while outwardly still1 he seems to move with the slow1 almost monotonous swaying beat of this autumnal day4 ,he is more contented with a homely burden and is more assured of the broad margin to his life2 he sits in his sunny doorway 444 rapt in revery 444 amidst goldenrod1 sandcherry1 and sumac 444 in undisturbed solitude4 ,at times the more definite personal strivings for the ideal freedom1 the former more active speculations come over him1 as if he would trace a certain intensity even in his submission4 ,he grew in those seasons like corn in the night and they were better than any works of the hands4 ,they were not time subtracted from his life but so much over and above the usual allowance4 ,he realized what the ,orientals meant by contemplation and forsaking of works4 ,the day advanced as if to light some work of his--it was morning and lo6 now it is evening and nothing memorable is accomplished444 ,the evening train has gone by1 and all the restless world with it4 ,the fishes in the pond no longer feel its rumbling and he is more alone than ever444 ,his meditations are interrupted only by the faint sound of the ,concord bell--'tis prayer-meeting night in the village--a melody as it were1 imported into the wilderness444 ,at a distance over the woods the sound acquires a certain vibratory hum as if the pine needles in the horizon were the strings of a harp which it swept444 ,a vibration of the universal lyre444 ,just as the intervening atmosphere makes a distant ridge of earth interesting to the eyes by the azure tint it imparts4 444 ,part of the echo may be the voice of the wood2 the same trivial words and notes sung by the wood nymph4 ,it is darker1 the poet's flute is heard out over the pond and ,walden hears the swan song of that ,day and faintly echoes444 ,is it a transcendental tune of ,concord8 ',tis an evening when the whole body is one sense1 444 and before ending his day he looks out over the clear1 crystalline water of the pond and catches a glimpse of the shadow--thought he saw in the morning's mist and haze--he knows that by his final submission1 he possesses the ,freedom of the ,night4 ,he goes up the pleasant hillside of pines1 hickories1 and moonlight to his cabin1 with a strange liberty in ,nature1 a part of herself4 ,,vi--,epilogue #a ,the futility of attempting to trace the source or primal impulse of an art-inspiration may be admitted without granting that human qualities or attributes which go with personality cannot be suggested1 and that artistic intuitions which parallel them cannot be reflected in music4 ,actually accomplishing the latter is a problem1 more or less arbitrary to an open mind1 more or less impossible to a prejudiced mind4 ,that which the composer intends to represent as high vitality sounds like something quite different to different listeners4 ,that which ,i like to think suggests ,thoreau's submission to nature may1 to another1 seem something like ,hawthorne's conception of the relentlessness of an evil conscience--and to the rest of our friends1 but a series of unpleasant sounds4 ,how far can the composer be held accountable8 ,beyond a certain point the responsibility is more or less undeterminable4 ,the outside characteristics--that is1 the points furthest away from the mergings--are obvious to mostly anyone4 ,a child knows a strain of joy1 from one of sorrow4 ,those a little older know the dignified from the frivolous--the ,spring ,song from the season in which the melancholy days have come 7though is there not a glorious hope in autumn674 ,but where is the definite expression of late-spring against early-summer1 of happiness against optimism8 ,a painter paints a sunset--can he paint the setting sun8 ,in some century to come1 when the school children will whistle popular tunes in quarter-tones--when the diatonic scale will be as obsolete as the pentatonic is now--perhaps then these borderland experiences may be both easily expressed and readily recognized4 ,but maybe music was not intended to satisfy the curious definiteness of man4 ,maybe it is better to hope that music may always be a transcendental language in the most extravagant sense4 ,possibly the power of literally distinguishing these shades of abstraction--these attributes paralleled by artistic intuitions 7call them what you will7-is ever to be denied man for the same reason that the beginning and end of a circle are to be denied4 #b ,there may be an analogy--and on first sight it seems that there must be--between both the state and power of artistic perceptions and the law of perpetual change1 that ever-flowing stream partly biological1 partly cosmic1 ever going on in ourselves1 in nature1 in all life4 ,this may account for the difficulty of identifying desired qualities with the perceptions of them in expression4 ,many things are constantly coming into being1 while others are constantly going out--one part of the same thing is coming in while another part is going out of existence4 ,perhaps this is why the above conformity in art 7a conformity which we seem naturally to look for7 appears at times so unrealizable1 if not impossible4 ,it will be assumed1 to make this theory clearer1 that the flow or change does not go on in the art-product itself4 ,as a matter of fact it probably does1 to a certain extent--a picture1 or a song1 may gain or lose in value beyond what the painter or composer knew1 by the progress and higher development in all art4 ,keats may be only partially true when he says that ,a work of beauty is a joy forever--a thing that is beautiful to ,,me1 is a joy to ,,me1 as long as it remains beautiful to ,,me--and if it remains so as long as ,i live1 it is so forever1 that is1 forever to ,,me4 ,if he had put it this way1 he would have been tiresome1 inartistic1 but perhaps truer4 ,so we will assume here that this change only goes on in man and nature2 and that this eternal process in mankind is paralleled in some way during each temporary1 personal life4 ,a young man1 two generations ago1 found an identity with his ideals1 in ,rossini2 when an older man in ,wagner4 ,a young man1 one generation ago1 found his in ,wagner1 but when older in ,cesar ,franck or ,brahms4 ,some may say that this change may not be general1 universal1 or natural1 and that it may be due to a certain kind of education1 or to a certain inherited or contracted prejudice4 ,we cannot deny or affirm this1 absolutely1 nor will we try to even qualitatively--except to say that it will be generally admitted that ,rossini1 today1 does not appeal to this generation1 as he did to that of our fathers4 ,as far as prejudice or undue influence is concerned1 and as an illustration in point1 the following may be cited to show that training may have but little effect in this connection1 at least not as much as usually supposed--for we believe this experience to be1 to a certain extent1 normal1 or at least1 not uncommon4 ,a man remembers1 when he was a boy of about fifteen years1 hearing his music-teacher 7and father7 who had just returned from a performance of ,siegfried say with a look of anxious surprise that somehow or other he felt ashamed of enjoying the music as he did1 for beneath it all he was conscious of an undercurrent of make-believe--the bravery was make-believe1 the love was make-believe1 the passion1 the virtue1 all make-believe1 as was the dragon--,p4 ,t4 ,barnum would have been brave enough to have gone out and captured a live one6 ,but1 that same boy at twenty-five was listening to ,wagner with enthusiasm1 his reality was real enough to inspire a devotion4 ,the ,preis-,lied1 for instance1 stirred him deeply4 ,but when he became middle-aged--and long before the ,hohenzollern hog-marched into ,belgium--this music had become cloying1 the melodies threadbare--a sense of something commonplace--yes--of make-believe came4 ,these feelings were fought against for association's sake1 and because of gratitude for bygone pleasures--but the former beauty and nobility were not there1 and in their place stood irritating intervals of descending fourths and fifths4 ,those once transcendent progressions1 luxuriant suggestions of ,debussy chords of the #ith1 #aath1 etc41 were becoming slimy4 ,an unearned exultation--a sentimentality deadening something within hides around in the music4 ,wagner seems less and less to measure up to the substance and reality of ,cesar ,franck1 ,brahms1 d',indy1 or even ,elgar 7with all his tiresomeness71 the wholesomeness1 manliness1 humility1 and deep spiritual1 possibly religious feeling of these men seem missing and not made up for by his 7,wagner's7 manner and eloquence1 even if greater than theirs 7which is very doubtful74 ,from the above we would try to prove that as this stream of change flows towards the eventual ocean of mankind's perfection1 the art-works in which we identify our higher ideals come by this process to be identified with the lower ideals of those who embark after us when the stream has grown in depth4 ,if we stop with the above experience1 our theory of the effect of man's changing nature1 as thus explaining artistic progress1 is perhaps sustained4 ,thus would we show that the perpetual flow of the life stream is affected by and affects each individual riverbed of the universal watersheds4 ,thus would we prove that the ,wagner period was normal1 because we intuitively recognized whatever identity we were looking for at a certain period in our life1 and the fact that it was so made the ,franck period possible and then normal at a later period in our life4 ,thus would we assume that this is as it should be1 and that it is not ,wagner's content or substance or his lack of virtue1 that something in us has made us flow past him and not he past us4 ,but something blocks our theory6 ,something makes our hypotheses seem purely speculative if not useless4 ,it is men like ,bach and ,beethoven4 ,is it not a matter nowadays of common impression or general opinion 7for the law of averages plays strongly in any theory relating to human attributes7 that the world's attitude towards the substance and quality and spirit of these two men1 or other men of like character1 if there be such1 has not been affected by the flowing stream that has changed us8 ,but if by the measure of this public opinion1 as well as it can be measured1 ,bach and ,beethoven are being flowed past--not as fast perhaps as ,wagner is1 but if they are being passed at all from this deeper viewpoint1 then this change theory holds4 ,here we shall have to assume1 for we haven't proved it1 that artistic intuitions can sense in music a weakening of moral strength and vitality1 and that it is sensed in relation to ,wagner and not sensed in relation to ,bach and ,beethoven4 ,if1 in this common opinion1 there is a particle of change toward the latter's art1 our theory stands--mind you1 this admits a change in the manner1 form1 external expression1 etc41 but not in substance4 ,if there is no change here towards the substance of these two men1 our theory not only falls but its failure superimposes or allows us to presume a fundamental duality in music1 and in all art for that matter4 ,does the progress of intrinsic beauty or truth 7we assume there is such a thing7 have its exposures as well as its discoveries8 ,does the non-acceptance of the foregoing theory mean that ,wagner's substance and reality are lower and his manner higher2 that his beauty was not intrinsic2 that he was more interested in the repose of pride than in the truth of humility8 ,it appears that he chose the representative instead of the spirit itself1--that he chose consciously or unconsciously1 it matters not1--the lower set of values in this dualism4 ,these are severe accusations to bring--especially when a man is a little down as ,wagner is today4 ,but these convictions were present some time before he was banished from the ,metropolitan4 ,wagner seems to take ,hugo's place in ,faguet's criticism of de ,vigny that1 ,the staging to him 7,hugo7 was the important thing--not the conception--that in de ,vigny1 the artist was inferior to the poet2 finally that ,hugo and so ,wagner have a certain pauvrete de fond4 ,thus would we ungenerously make ,wagner prove our sum6 ,but it is a sum that won't prove6 ,the theory at its best does little more than suggest something1 which if it is true at all1 is a platitude1 viz43 that progressive growth in all life makes it more and more possible for men to separate1 in an art-work1 moral weakness from artistic strength4 #c ,human attributes are definite enough when it comes to their description1 but the expression of them1 or the paralleling of them in an art-process1 has to be1 as said above1 more or less arbitrary1 but we believe that their expression can be less vague if the basic distinction of this art-dualism is kept in mind4 ,it is morally certain that the higher part is founded1 as ,sturt suggests1 on something that has to do with those kinds of unselfish human interests which we call knowledge and morality--knowledge1 not in the sense of erudition1 but as a kind of creation or creative truth4 ,this allows us to assume that the higher and more important value of this dualism is composed of what may be called reality1 quality1 spirit1 or substance against the lower value of form1 quantity1 or manner4 ,of these terms substance seems to us the most appropriate1 cogent1 and comprehensive for the higher and manner for the under-value4 ,substance in a human-art-quality suggests the body of a conviction which has its birth in the spiritual consciousness1 whose youth is nourished in the moral consciousness1 and whose maturity as a result of all this growth is then represented in a mental image4 ,this is appreciated by the intuition1 and somehow translated into expression by manner--a process always less important than it seems1 or as suggested by the foregoing 7in fact we apologize for this attempted definition74 ,so it seems that substance is too indefinite to analyze1 in more specific terms4 ,it is practically indescribable4 ,intuitions 7artistic or not87 will sense it--process1 unknown4 ,perhaps it is an unexplained consciousness of being nearer ,god1 or being nearer the devil--of approaching truth or approaching unreality--a silent something felt in the truth-of-nature in ,turner against the truth-of-art in ,botticelli1 or in the fine thinking of ,ruskin against the fine soundings of ,kipling1 or in the wide expanse of ,titian against the narrow-expanse of ,carpaccio1 or in some such distinction that ,pope sees between what he calls ,homer's invention and ,virgil's judgment--apparently an inspired imagination against an artistic care1 a sense of the difference1 perhaps1 between ,dr4 ,bushnell's ,knowing ,god and knowing about ,god4 ,a more vivid explanation or illustration may be found in the difference between ,emerson and ,poe4 ,the former seems to be almost wholly substance and the latter manner4 ,the measure in artistic satisfaction of ,poe's manner is equal to the measure of spiritual satisfaction in ,emerson's substance4 ,the total value of each man is high1 but ,emerson's is higher than ,poe's because substance is higher than manner--because substance leans towards optimism1 and manner pessimism4 ,we do not know that all this is so1 but we feel1 or rather know by intuition that it is so1 in the same way we know intuitively that right is higher than wrong1 though we can't always tell why a thing is right or wrong1 or what is always the difference or the margin between right and wrong4 ,beauty1 in its common conception1 has nothing to do with it 7substance71 unless it be granted that its outward aspect1 or the expression between sensuous beauty and spiritual beauty can be always and distinctly known1 which it cannot1 as the art of music is still in its infancy4 ,on reading this over1 it seems only decent that some kind of an apology be made for the beginning of the preceding sentence4 ,it cannot justly be said that anything that has to do with art has nothing to do with beauty in any degree1--that is1 whether beauty is there or not1 it has something to do with it4 ,a casual idea of it1 a kind of a first necessary-physical impression1 was what we had in mind4 ,probably nobody knows what actual beauty is--except those serious writers of humorous essays in art magazines1 who accurately1 but kindly1 with club in hand1 demonstrate for all time and men that beauty is a quadratic monomial2 that it is absolute2 that it is relative2 that it is not relative1 that it is not444 ,the word beauty is as easy to use as the word degenerate4 ,both come in handy when one does or does not agree with you4 ,for our part1 something that ,roussel-,despierres says comes nearer to what we like to think beauty is 444 an infinite source of good 444 the love of the beautiful 444 a constant anxiety for moral beauty4 ,even here we go around in a circle--a thing apparently inevitable1 if one tries to reduce art to philosophy4 ,but personally1 we prefer to go around in a circle than around in a parallelepipedon1 for it seems cleaner and perhaps freer from mathematics--or for the same reason we prefer ,whittier to ,baudelaire--a poet to a genius1 or a healthy to a rotten apple--probably not so much because it is more nutritious1 but because we like its taste better2 we like the beautiful and don't like the ugly2 therefore1 what we like is beautiful1 and what we don't like is ugly--and hence we are glad the beautiful is not ugly1 for if it were we would like something we don't like4 ,so having unsettled what beauty is1 let us go on4 ,at any rate1 we are going to be arbitrary enough to claim1 with no definite qualification1 that substance can be expressed in music1 and that it is the only valuable thing in it1 and moreover that in two separate pieces of music in which the notes are almost identical1 one can be of substance with little manner1 and the other can be of manner with little substance4 ,substance has something to do with character4 ,manner has nothing to do with it4 ,the substance of a tune comes from somewhere near the soul1 and the manner comes from--,god knows where4 #d ,the lack of interest to preserve1 or ability to perceive the fundamental divisions of this duality accounts to a large extent1 we believe1 for some or many various phenomena 7pleasant or unpleasant according to the personal attitude7 of modern art1 and all art4 ,it is evidenced in many ways--the sculptors' over-insistence on the mold1 the outer rather than the inner subject or content of his statue--over-enthusiasm for local color--over-interest in the multiplicity of techniques1 in the idiomatic1 in the effect as shown1 by the appreciation of an audience rather than in the effect on the ideals of the inner conscience of the artist or the composer4 ,this lack of perceiving is too often shown by an over-interest in the material value of the effect4 ,the pose of self-absorption1 which some men1 in the advertising business 7and incidentally in the recital and composing business7 put into their photographs or the portraits of themselves1 while all dolled up in their purple-dressing-gowns1 in their twofold wealth of golden hair1 in their cissy-like postures over the piano keys--this pose of manner sometimes sounds out so loud that the more their music is played1 the less it is heard4 ,for does not ,emerson tell them this when he says ,what you are talks so loud1 that ,i cannot hear what you say8 ,the unescapable impression that one sometimes gets by a glance at these public-inflicted trade-marks1 and without having heard or seen any of their music1 is that the one great underlying desire of these appearing-artists1 is to impress1 perhaps startle and shock their audiences and at any cost4 ,this may have some such effect upon some of the lady-part 7male or female7 of their listeners but possibly the members of the men-part1 who as boys liked hockey better than birthday-parties1 may feel like shocking a few of these picture-sitters with something stronger than their own forzandos4 ,the insistence upon manner in its relation to local color is wider than a self-strain for effect4 ,if local color is a natural part1 that is1 a part of substance1 the art-effort cannot help but show its color--and it will be a true color1 no matter how colored2 if it is a part1 even a natural part of manner1 either the color part is bound eventually to drive out the local part or the local drive out all color4 ,here a process of cancellation or destruction is going on--a kind of compromise which destroys by deadlock2 a compromise purchasing a selfish pleasure--a decadence in which art becomes first dull1 then dark1 then dead1 though throughout this process it is outwardly very much alive1--especially after it is dead4 ,the same tendency may even be noticed if there is over-insistence upon the national in art4 ,substance tends to create affection2 manner prejudice4 ,the latter tends to efface the distinction between the love of both a country's virtue and vices1 and the love of only the virtue4 ,a true love of country is likely to be so big that it will embrace the virtue one sees in other countries and1 in the same breath1 so to speak4 ,a composer born in ,america1 but who has not been interested in the cause of the ,freedmen1 may be so interested in negro melodies1 that he writes a symphony over them4 ,he is conscious 7perhaps only subconscious7 that he wishes it to be ,american music4 ,he tries to forget that the paternal negro came from ,africa4 ,is his music ,american or ,african8 ,that is the great question which keeps him awake6 ,but the sadness of it is1 that if he had been born in ,africa1 his music might have been just as ,american1 for there is good authority that an ,african soul under an ,x-ray looks identically like an ,american soul4 ,there is a futility in selecting a certain type to represent a whole1 unless the interest in the spirit of the type coincides with that of the whole4 ,in other words1 if this composer isn't as deeply interested in the cause as ,wendell ,phillips was1 when he fought his way through that anti-abolitionist crowd at ,faneuil ,hall1 his music is liable to be less ,american than he wishes4 ,if a middle-aged man1 upon picking up the ,scottish ,chiefs1 finds that his boyhood enthusiasm for the prowess and noble deeds and character of ,sir ,wm4 ,wallace and of ,bruce is still present1 let him put1 or try to put that glory into an overture1 let him fill it chuck-full of ,scotch tunes1 if he will4 ,but after all is said and sung he will find that his music is ,american to the core 7assuming that he is an ,american and wishes his music to be74 ,it will be as national in character as the heart of that ,grand ,army ,grandfather1 who read those ,cragmore ,tales of a summer evening1 when that boy had brought the cows home without witching4 ,perhaps the memories of the old soldier1 to which this man still holds tenderly1 may be turned into a strain or a sonata1 and though the music does not contain1 or even suggest any of the old war-songs1 it will be as sincerely ,american as the subject1 provided his 7the composer's7 interest1 spirit1 and character sympathize with1 or intuitively coincide with that of the subject4 ,again1 if a man finds that the cadences of an ,apache war-dance come nearest to his soul1 provided he has taken pains to know enough other cadences--for eclecticism is part of his duty--sorting potatoes means a better crop next year--let him assimilate whatever he finds highest of the ,indian ideal1 so that he can use it with the cadences1 fervently1 transcendentally1 inevitably1 furiously1 in his symphonies1 in his operas1 in his whistlings on the way to work1 so that he can paint his house with them--make them a part of his prayer-book--this is all possible and necessary1 if he is confident that they have a part in his spiritual consciousness4 ,with this assurance his music will have everything it should of sincerity1 nobility1 strength1 and beauty1 no matter how it sounds2 and if1 with this1 he is true to none but the highest of ,american ideals 7that is1 the ideals only that coincide with his spiritual consciousness7 his music will be true to itself and incidentally ,american1 and it will be so even after it is proved that all our ,indians came from ,asia4 ,the man born down to ,babbitt's ,corners1 may find a deep appeal in the simple but acute ,gospel ,hymns of the ,new ,england camp meetin'1 of a generation or so ago4 ,he finds in them--some of them--a vigor1 a depth of feeling1 a natural-soil rhythm1 a sincerity1 emphatic but inartistic1 which1 in spite of a vociferous sentimentality1 carries him nearer the ,christ of the people than does the ,te ,deum of the greatest cathedral4 ,these tunes have1 for him1 a truer ring than many of those groove-made1 even-measured1 monotonous1 non-rhythmed1 indoor-smelling1 priest-taught1 academic1 ,english or neo-,english hymns 7and anthems7--well-written1 well-harmonized things1 well-voice-led1 well-counterpointed1 well-corrected1 and well ,o4,k4'd1 by well corrected ,mus4 ,bac4 ,r4,f4,o4,g4's-personified sounds1 correct and inevitable to sight and hearing--in a word1 those proper forms of stained-glass beauty1 which our over-drilled mechanisms-boy-choirs are limited to4 ,but1 if the ,yankee can reflect the fervency with which his gospels were sung--the fervency of ,aunt ,sarah1 who scrubbed her life away1 for her brother's ten orphans1 the fervency with which this woman1 after a fourteen-hour work day on the farm1 would hitch up and drive five miles1 through the mud and rain to prayer meetin'--her one articulate outlet for the fullness of her unselfish soul--if he can reflect the fervency of such a spirit1 he may find there a local color that will do all the world good4 ,if his music can but catch that spirit by being a part with itself1 it will come somewhere near his ideal--and it will be ,american1 too1 perhaps nearer so than that of the devotee of ,indian or negro melody4 ,in other words1 if local color1 national color1 any color1 is a true pigment of the universal color1 it is a divine quality1 it is a part of substance in art--not of manner4 ,the preceding illustrations are but attempts to show that whatever excellence an artist sees in life1 a community1 in a people1 or in any valuable object or experience1 if sincerely and intuitively reflected in his work1 and so he himself1 is1 in a way1 a reflected part of that excellence4 ,whether he be accepted or rejected1 whether his music is always played1 or never played--all this has nothing to do with it--it is true or false by his own measure4 ,if we may be permitted to leave out two words1 and add a few more1 a sentence of ,hegel appears to sum up this idea1 ,the universal need for expression in art lies in man's rational impulse to exalt the inner 444 world 7i4e41 the highest ideals he sees in the inner life of others7 together with what he finds in his own life--into a spiritual consciousness for himself4 ,the artist does feel or does not feel that a sympathy has been approved by an artistic intuition and so reflected in his work4 ,whether he feels this sympathy is true or not in the final analysis1 is a thing probably that no one but he 7the artist7 knows but the truer he feels it1 the more substance it has1 or as ,sturt puts it1 his work is art1 so long as he feels in doing it as true artists feel1 and so long as his object is akin to the objects that true artists admire4 ,dr4 ,griggs in an ,essay on ,debussy1 ,john ,c4 ,griggs1 ,debussy ,yale ,review1 #aiad asks if this composer's content is worthy the manner4 ,perhaps so1 perhaps not--,debussy himself1 doubtless1 could not give a positive answer4 ,he would better know how true his feeling and sympathy was1 and anyone else's personal opinion can be of but little help here4 ,we might offer the suggestion that ,debussy's content would have been worthier his manner1 if he had hoed corn or sold newspapers for a living1 for in this way he might have gained a deeper vitality and truer theme to sing at night and of a ,sunday4 ,or we might say that what substance there is1 is too coherent--it is too clearly expressed in the first thirty seconds4 ,there you have the whole fragment1 a translucent syllogism1 but then the reality1 the spirit1 the substance stops and the form1 the perfume1 the manner1 shimmer right along1 as the soapsuds glisten after one has finished washing4 ,or we might say that his substance would have been worthier1 if his adoration or contemplation of ,nature1 which is often a part of it1 and which rises to great heights1 as is felt for example1 in ,la ,mer1 had been more the quality of ,thoreau's4 ,debussy's attitude toward ,nature seems to have a kind of sensual sensuousness underlying it1 while ,thoreau's is a kind of spiritual sensuousness4 ,it is rare to find a farmer or peasant whose enthusiasm for the beauty in ,nature finds outward expression to compare with that of the city-man who comes out for a ,sunday in the country1 but ,thoreau is that rare country-man and ,debussy the city-man with his weekend flights into country-aesthetics4 ,we would be inclined to say that ,thoreau leaned towards substance and ,debussy towards manner4 #e ,there comes from ,concord1 an offer to every mind--the choice between repose and truth1 and ,god makes the offer4 ,take which you please 444 between these1 as a pendulum1 man oscillates4 ,he in whom the love of repose predominates will accept the first creed1 the first philosophy1 the first political party he meets1 most likely his father's4 ,he gets rest1 commodity1 and reputation4 ,here is another aspect of art-duality1 but it is more drastic than ours1 as it would eliminate one part or the other4 ,a man may aim as high as ,beethoven or as high as ,richard ,strauss4 ,in the former case the shot may go far below the mark2 in truth1 it has not been reached since that thunder storm of #ahbh and there is little chance that it will be reached by anyone living today1 but that matters not1 the shot will never rebound and destroy the marksman4 ,but1 in the latter case1 the shot may often hit the mark1 but as often rebound and harden1 if not destroy1 the shooter's heart--even his soul4 ,what matters it1 men say1 he will then find rest1 commodity1 and reputation--what matters it--if he find there but few perfect truths--what matters 7men say7--he will find there perfect media1 those perfect instruments of getting in the way of perfect truths4 ,this choice tells why ,beethoven is always modern and ,strauss always mediaeval--try as he may to cover it up in new bottles4 ,he has chosen to capitalize a talent--he has chosen the complexity of media1 the shining hardness of externals1 repose1 against the inner1 invisible activity of truth4 ,he has chosen the first creed1 the easy creed1 the philosophy of his fathers1 among whom he found a half-idiot-genius 7,nietzsche74 ,his choice naturally leads him to glorify and to magnify all kind of dull things--stretched-out geigermusik--which in turn naturally leads him to windmills and human heads on silver platters4 ,magnifying the dull into the colossal1 produces a kind of comfort--the comfort of a woman who takes more pleasure in the fit of fashionable clothes than in a healthy body--the kind of comfort that has brought so many adventures of baby-carriages at county fairs--the sensation of ,teddy bears1 smoking their first cigarette--on the program of symphony orchestras of one hundred performers1--the lure of the media--the means--not the end--but the finish1--thus the failure to perceive that thoughts and memories of childhood are too tender1 and some of them too sacred to be worn lightly on the sleeve4 ,life is too short for these one hundred men1 to say nothing of the composer and the dress-circle1 to spend an afternoon in this way4 ,they are but like the rest of us1 and have only the expectancy of the mortality-table to survive--perhaps only this piece4 ,we cannot but feel that a too great desire for repose accounts for such phenomena4 ,a ,,ms4 score is brought to a concertmaster--he may be a violinist--he is kindly disposed1 he looks it over1 and casually fastens on a passage that's bad for the fiddles1 it doesn't hang just right1 write it like this1 they will play it better4 ,but that one phrase is the germ of the whole thing4 ,never mind1 it will fit the hand better this way--it will sound better4 ,my ,god6 what has sound got to do with music6 ,the waiter brings the only fresh egg he has1 but the man at breakfast sends it back because it doesn't fit his eggcup4 ,why can't music go out in the same way it comes in to a man1 without having to crawl over a fence of sounds1 thoraxes1 catguts1 wire1 wood1 and brass8 ,consecutive-fifths are as harmless as blue laws compared with the relentless tyranny of the media4 ,the instrument6--there is the perennial difficulty--there is music's limitations4 ,why must the scarecrow of the keyboard--the tyrant in terms of the mechanism 7be it ,caruso or a ,jew's-harp7 stare into every measure8 ,is it the composer's fault that man has only ten fingers8 ,why can't a musical thought be presented as it is born--perchance a bastard of the slums1 or a daughter of a bishop--and if it happens to go better later on a bass-drum 7than upon a harp7 get a good bass-drummer4 ,footnote3 ,the first movement 7,emerson7 of the music1 which is the cause of all these words1 was first thought of 7we believe7 in terms of a large orchestra1 the second 7,hawthorne7 in terms of a piano or a dozen pianos1 the third 7,alcotts7--of an organ 7or piano with voice or violin71 and the last 7,thoreau71 in terms of strings1 colored possibly with a flute or horn4 ,that music must be heard1 is not essential--what it sounds like may not be what it is4 ,perhaps the day is coming when music--believers will learn that silence is a solvent 444 that gives us leave to be universal rather than personal4 ,some fiddler was once honest or brave enough1 or perhaps ignorant enough1 to say that ,beethoven didn't know how to write for the violin1--that1 maybe1 is one of the many reasons ,beethoven is not a ,vieuxtemps4 ,another man says ,beethoven's piano sonatas are not pianistic--with a little effort1 perhaps1 ,beethoven could have become a ,thalberg4 ,his symphonies are perfect-truths and perfect for the orchestra of #ahbj--;but ,mahler could have made them--possibly did make them--we will say1 more perfect1 as far as their media clothes are concerned1 and ,beethoven is today big enough to rather like it4 ,he is probably in the same amiable state of mind that the ,jesuit priest said1 ,god was in1 when ,he looked down on the camp ground and saw the priest sleeping with a ,congregational ,chaplain4 ,or in the same state of mind you'll be in when you look down and see the sexton keeping your tombstone up to date4 ,the truth of ,joachim offsets the repose of ,paganini and ,kubelik4 ,the repose and reputation of a successful pianist--7whatever that means7 who plays ,chopin so cleverly that he covers up a sensuality1 and in such a way that the purest-minded see nothing but sensuous beauty in it1 which1 by the way1 doesn't disturb him as much as the size of his income-tax--the repose and fame of this man is offset by the truth and obscurity of the village organist who plays ,lowell ,mason and ,bach with such affection that he would give his life rather than lose them4 ,the truth and courage of this organist1 who risks his job1 to fight the prejudice of the congregation1 offset the repose and large salary of a more celebrated choirmaster1 who holds his job by lowering his ideals1 who is willing to let the organ smirk under an insipid1 easy-sounding barcarolle for the offertory1 who is willing to please the sentimental ears of the music committee 7and its wives7--who is more willing to observe these forms of politeness than to stand up for a stronger and deeper music of simple devotion1 and for a service of a spiritual unity1 the kind of thing that ,mr4 ,bossitt1 who owns the biggest country place1 the biggest bank1 and the biggest ,house of ,god in town 7for is it not the divine handiwork of his own-pocketbook7--the kind of music that this man1 his wife1 and his party 7of property right in pews7 can't stand because it isn't pretty4 ,the doctrine of this choice may be extended to the distinction between literal-enthusiasm and natural-enthusiasm 7right or wrong notes1 good or bad tones against good or bad interpretation1 good or bad sentiment7 or between observation and introspection1 or to the distinction between remembering and dreaming4 ,strauss remembers1 ,beethoven dreams4 ,we see this distinction also in ,goethe's confusion of the moral with the intellectual4 ,there is no such confusion in ,beethoven--to him they are one4 ,it is told1 and the story is so well known that we hesitate to repeat it here1 that both these men were standing in the street one day when the ,emperor drove by--,goethe1 like the rest of the crowd1 bowed and uncovered--but ,beethoven stood bolt upright1 and refused even to salute1 saying3 ,let him bow to us1 for ours is a nobler empire4 ,goethe's mind knew this was true1 but his moral courage was not instinctive4 ,this remembering faculty of repose1 throws the mind in unguarded moments quite naturally towards manner and thus to the many things the media can do4 ,it brings on an itching to over-use them--to be original 7if anyone will tell what that is7 with nothing but numbers to be original with4 ,we are told that a conductor 7of the orchestra7 has written a symphony requiring an orchestra of one hundred and fifty men4 ,if his work perhaps had one hundred and fifty valuable ideas1 the one hundred and fifty men might be justifiable--but as it probably contains not more than a dozen1 the composer may be unconsciously ashamed of them1 and glad to cover them up under a hundred and fifty men4 ,a man may become famous because he is able to eat nineteen dinners a day1 but posterity will decorate his stomach1 not his brain4 ,manner breeds a cussed-cleverness--only to be clever--a satellite of super-industrialism1 and perhaps to be witty in the bargain1 not the wit in mother-wit1 but a kind of indoor1 artificial1 mental arrangement of things quickly put together and which have been learned and studied--it is of the material and stays there1 while humor is of the emotional and of the approaching spiritual4 ,even ,dukas1 and perhaps other ,gauls1 in their critical heart of hearts1 may admit that wit in music1 is as impossible as wit at a funeral4 ,the wit is evidence of its lack4 ,mark ,twain could be humorous at the death of his dearest friend1 but in such a way as to put a blessing into the heart of the bereaved4 ,humor in music has the same possibilities4 ,but its quantity has a serious effect on its quality1 inverse ratio is a good formula to adopt here4 ,comedy has its part1 but wit never4 ,strauss is at his best in these lower rooms1 but his comedy reminds us more of the physical fun of ,lever rather than comedy in the ,meredithian sense as ,mason suggests4 ,meredith is a little too deep or too subtle for ,strauss--unless it be granted that cynicism is more a part of comedy than a part of refined-insult4 ,let us also remember that ,mr4 ,disston1 not ,mr4 ,strauss1 put the funny notes in the bassoon4 ,a symphony written only to amuse and entertain is likely to amuse only the writer--and him not long after the check is cashed4 ,genius is always ascetic and piety and love1 thus ,emerson reinforces ,god's offer of this choice by a transcendental definition4 ,the moment a famous violinist refused to appear until he had received his check1--at that moment1 precisely 7assuming for argument's sake1 that this was the first time that materialism had the ascendancy in this man's soul7 at that moment he became but a man of talent--incidentally1 a small man and a small violinist1 regardless of how perfectly he played1 regardless to what heights of emotion he stirred his audience1 regardless of the sublimity of his artistic and financial success4 d',annunzio1 it is told1 becoming somewhat discouraged at the result of some of his ,fiume adventures said3 ,we are the only ,idealists left4 ,this remark may have been made in a moment of careless impulse1 but if it is taken at its face value1 the moment it was made that moment his idealism started downhill4 ,a grasp at monopoly indicates that a sudden shift has taken place from the heights where genius may be found1 to the lower plains of talent4 ,the mind of a true idealist is great enough to know that a monopoly of idealism or of wheat is a thing nature does not support4 ,a newspaper music column prints an incident 7so how can we assume that it is not true87 of an ,american violinist who called on ,max ,reger1 to tell him how much he 7the ,american7 appreciated his music4 ,reger gives him a hopeless look and cries3 ,what6 a musician and not speak ,german6 ,at that moment1 by the clock1 regardless of how great a genius he may have been before that sentence was uttered--at that moment he became but a man of talent4 ,for the man of talent affects to call his transgressions of the laws of sense trivial and to count them nothing considered with his devotion to his art4 ,his art never taught him prejudice or to wear only one eye4 ,his art is less for every deduction from his holiness and less for every defect of common sense4 ,and this common sense has a great deal to do with this distinguishing difference of ,emerson's between genius and talent1 repose and truth1 and between all evidences of substance and manner in art4 ,manner breeds partialists4 ,is ,america a musical nation8--if the man who is ever asking this question would sit down and think something over he might find less interest in asking it--he might possibly remember that all nations are more musical than any nation1 especially the nation that pays the most--and pays the most eagerly1 for anything1 after it has been professionally-rubber stamped4 ,music may be yet unborn4 ,perhaps no music has ever been written or heard4 ,perhaps the birth of art will take place at the moment1 in which the last man1 who is willing to make a living out of art is gone and gone forever4 ,in the history of this youthful world the best product that human-beings can boast of is probably1 ,beethoven--but1 maybe1 even his art is as nothing in comparison with the future product of some coal-miner's soul in the forty-first century4 ,and the same man who is ever asking about the most musical nation1 is ever discovering the most musical man of the most musical nation4 ,when particularly hysterical he shouts1 ,i have found him6 ,smith ,grabholz--the one great ,american poet1--at last1 here is the ,moses the country has been waiting for--7of course we all know that the country has not been waiting for anybody--and we have many ,moses always with us74 ,but the discoverer keeps right on shouting ,here is the one true ,american poetry1 ,i pronounce it the work of a genius4 ,i predict for him the most brilliant career--for his is an art that444--for his is a soul that 444 for his is a444 and ,grabholz is ruined2--but ruined1 not alone1 by this perennial discoverer of pearls in any oyster-shell that treats him the best1 but ruined by his own 7,grabholz's7 talent1--for genius will never let itself be discovered by a man4 ,then the world may ask ,can the one true national this or that be killed by its own discoverer8 ,no1 the country replies1 but each discovery is proof of another impossibility4 ,it is a sad fact that the one true man and the one true art will never behave as they should except in the mind of the partialist whom ,god has forgotten4 ,but this matters little to him 7the man7--his business is good--for it is easy to sell the future in terms of the past--and there are always some who will buy anything4 ,the individual usually gains if he is willing to but lean on manner4 ,the evidence of this is quite widespread1 for if the discoverer happens to be in any other line of business his sudden discoveries would be just as important--to him4 ,in fact1 the theory of substance and manner in art and its related dualisms1 repose and truth1 genius and talent1 c41 may find illustration in many1 perhaps most1 of the human activities4 ,and when examined it 7the illustration7 is quite likely to show how manner is always discovering partisans4 ,for example1 enthusiastic discoveries of the paragon are common in politics--an art to some4 ,these revelations1 in this profession are made easy by the pre-election discovering-leaders of the people4 ,and the genius who is discovered1 forthwith starts his speeches of talent--though they are hardly that--they are hardly more than a string of subplatitudes1 square-looking1 well-rigged things that almost everybody has seen1 known1 and heard since ,rome or man fell4 ,nevertheless these signs of perfect manner1 these series of noble sentiments that the noble never get off1 are forcibly1 clearly1 and persuasively handed out--eloquently1 even beautifully expressed1 and with such personal charm1 magnetism1 and strength1 that their profound messages speed right through the minds and hearts1 without as much as spattering the walls1 and land right square in the middle of the listener's vanity4 ,for all this is a part of manner and its quality is of splendor--for manner is at times a good bluff but substance a poor one and knows it4 ,the discovered one's usual and first great outburst is probably the greatest truth that he ever utters4 ,fearlessly standing1 he looks straight into the eyes of the populace and with a strong ringing voice 7for strong voices and strong statesmanship are inseparable7 and with words far more eloquent than the following1 he sings ,this honor is greater than ,i deserve but duty calls me--7what1 not stated7444 ,if elected1 ,i shall be your servant 444 7for1 it is told1 that he believes in modesty1--that he has even boasted that he is the most modest man in the country7444 ,thus he has the right to shout1 ,first1 last and forever ,i am for the people4 ,i am against all bosses4 ,i have no sympathy for politicians4 ,i am for strict economy1 liberal improvements and justice6 ,i am also for the--ten commandments 7his intuitive political sagacity keeps him from mentioning any particular one74--,but a sublime height is always reached in his perorations4 ,here we learn that he believes in honesty--7repeat honesty72--we are even allowed to infer that he is one of the very few who know that there is such a thing2 and we also learn that since he was a little boy 7barefoot7 his motto has been ,do ,right1--he swerves not from the right6--he believes in nothing but the right2 7to him--everything is right6--if it gets him elected72 but cheers invariably stop this great final truth 7in brackets7 from rising to animate expression4 ,now all of these translucent axioms are true 7are not axioms always true871--as far as manner is concerned4 ,in other words1 the manner functions perfectly4 ,but where is the divine substance8 ,this is not there--why should it be--if it were he might not be there4 ,substance is not featured in this discovery4 ,for the truth of substance is sometimes silence1 sometimes ellipses1--and the latter if supplied might turn some of the declarations above into perfect truths1--for instance first and last and forever ,i am for the people 7's votes74 ,i'm against all bosses 7against me74 ,i have no sympathy for 7rival7 politicians1 etc41 etc4 ,but these tedious attempts at comedy should stop1--they're too serious1--besides the illustration may be a little hard on a few1 the minority 7the non-people7 though not on the many1 the majority 7the people76 ,but even an assumed parody may help to show what a power manner is for reaction unless it is counterbalanced and then saturated by the other part of the duality4 ,thus it appears that all there is to this great discovery is that one good politician has discovered another good politician4 ,for manner has brought forth its usual talent2--for manner cannot discover the genius who has discarded platitudes--the genius who has devised a new and surpassing order for mankind1 simple and intricate enough1 abstract and definite enough1 locally impractical and universally practical enough1 to wipe out the need for further discoveries of talent and incidentally the discoverer's own fortune and political manner4 ,furthermore1 he 7this genius7 never will be discovered until the majority-spirit1 the common-heart1 the human-oversoul1 the source of all great values1 converts all talent into genius1 all manner into substance--until the direct expression of the mind and soul of the majority1 the divine right of all consciousness1 social1 moral1 and spiritual1 discloses the one true art and thus finally discovers the one true leader--even itself3--then no leaders1 no politicians1 no manner1 will hold sway--and no more speeches will be heard4 ,the intensity today1 with which techniques and media are organized and used1 tends to throw the mind away from a common sense and towards manner and thus to resultant weak and mental states--for example1 the ,byronic fallacy--that one who is full of turbid feeling about himself is qualified to be some sort of an artist4 ,in this relation manner also leads some to think that emotional sympathy for self is as true a part of art as sympathy for others2 and a prejudice in favor of the good and bad of one personality against the virtue of many personalities4 ,it may be that when a poet or a whistler becomes conscious that he is in the easy path of any particular idiom1--that he is helplessly prejudiced in favor of any particular means of expression1--that his manner can be catalogued as modern or classic1--that he favors a contrapuntal groove1 a sound-coloring one1 a sensuous one1 a successful one1 or a melodious one 7whatever that means71--that his interests lie in the ,french school or the ,german school1 or the school of ,saturn1--that he is involved in this particular that or that particular this1 or in any particular brand of emotional complexes1--in a word1 when he becomes conscious that his style is his personal own1--that it has monopolized a geographical part of the world's sensibilities1 then it may be that the value of his substance is not growing1--that it even may have started on its way backwards1--it may be that he is trading an inspiration for a bad habit and finally that he is reaching fame1 permanence1 or some other under-value1 and that he is getting farther and farther from a perfect truth4 ,but1 on the contrary side of the picture1 it is not unreasonable to imagine that if he 7this poet1 composer1 and laborer7 is open to all the overvalues within his reach1--if he stands unprotected from all the showers of the absolute which may beat upon him1--if he is willing to use or learn to use1 or at least if he is not afraid of trying to use1 whatever he can1 of any and all lessons of the infinite that humanity has received and thrown to man1--that nature has exposed and sacrificed1 that life and death have translated--if he accepts all and sympathizes with all1 is influenced by all1 whether consciously or sub-consciously1 drastically or humbly1 audibly or inaudibly1 whether it be all the virtue of ,satan or the only evil of ,heaven--and all1 even1 at one time1 even in one chord1--then it may be that the value of his substance1 and its value to himself1 to his art1 to all art1 even to the ,common ,soul is growing and approaching nearer and nearer to perfect truths--whatever they are and wherever they may be4 ,again1 a certain kind of manner-over-influence may be caused by a group-disease germ4 ,the over-influence by1 the over-admiration of1 and the over-association with a particular artistic personality or a particular type or group of personalities tends to produce equally favorable and unfavorable symptoms1 but the unfavorable ones seem to be more contagious4 ,perhaps the impulse remark of some famous man 7whose name we forget7 that he loved music but hated musicians1 might be followed 7with some good results7 at least part of the time4 ,to see the sun rise1 a man has but to get up early1 and he can always have ,bach in his pocket4 ,we hear that ,mr4 ,smith or ,mr4 ,morgan1 etc41 et al4 design to establish a course at ,rome1 to raise the standard of ,american music1 7or the standard of ,american composers--which is it87 but possibly the more our composer accepts from his patrons et al4 the less he will accept from himself4 ,it may be possible that a day in a ,kansas wheat field will do more for him than three years in ,rome4 ,it may be1 that many men--perhaps some of genius--7if you won't admit that all are geniuses7 have been started on the downward path of subsidy by trying to write a thousand dollar prize poem or a ten thousand dollar prize opera4 ,how many masterpieces have been prevented from blossoming in this way8 ,a cocktail will make a man eat more1 but will not give him a healthy1 normal appetite 7if he had not that already74 ,if a bishop should offer a prize living to the curate who will love ,god the hardest for fifteen days1 whoever gets the prize would love ,god the least4 ,such stimulants1 it strikes us1 tend to industrialize art1 rather than develop a spiritual sturdiness--a sturdiness which ,mr4 ,sedgwick says footnote3 ,h4 ,d4 ,sedgwick4 ,the ,new ,american ,type4 ,riverside ,press4 shows itself in a close union between spiritual life and the ordinary business of life1 against spiritual feebleness which shows itself in the separation of the two4 ,if one's spiritual sturdiness is congenital and somewhat perfect he is not only conscious that this separation has no part in his own soul1 but he does not feel its existence in others4 ,he does not believe there is such a thing4 ,but perfection in this respect is rare4 ,and for the most of us1 we believe1 this sturdiness would be encouraged by anything that will keep or help us keep a normal balance between the spiritual life and the ordinary life4 ,if for every thousand dollar prize a potato field be substituted1 so that these candidates of ,clio can dig a little in real life1 perhaps dig up a natural inspiration1 arts--air might be a little clearer--a little freer from certain traditional delusions1 for instance1 that free thought and free love always go to the same cafe--that atmosphere and diligence are synonymous4 ,to quote ,thoreau incorrectly3 ,when half-,gods talk1 the ,gods walk6 ,everyone should have the opportunity of not being over-influenced4 ,again1 this over-influence by and over-insistence upon manner may finally lead some to believe that manner for manner's sake is a basis of music4 ,someone is quoted as saying that ragtime is the true ,american music4 ,anyone will admit that it is one of the many true1 natural1 and1 nowadays1 conventional means of expression4 ,it is an idiom1 perhaps a set or series of colloquialisms1 similar to those that have added through centuries and through natural means1 some beauty to all languages4 ,every language is but the evolution of slang1 and possibly the broad ,a in ,harvard may have come down from the butcher of ,southwark4 ,to examine ragtime rhythms and the syncopations of ,schumann or of ,brahms seems to the writer to show how much alike they are not4 ,ragtime1 as we hear it1 is1 of course1 more 7but not much more7 than a natural dogma of shifted accents1 or a mixture of shifted and minus accents4 ,it is something like wearing a derby hat on the back of the head1 a shuffling lilt of a happy soul just let out of a ,baptist ,church in old ,alabama4 ,ragtime has its possibilities4 ,but it does not represent the ,american nation any more than some fine old senators represent it4 ,perhaps we know it now as an ore before it has been refined into a product4 ,it may be one of nature's ways of giving art raw material4 ,time will throw its vices away and weld its virtues into the fabric of our music4 ,it has its uses as the cruet on the boarding-house table has1 but to make a meal of tomato ketchup and horse-radish1 to plant a whole farm with sunflowers1 even to put a sunflower into every bouquet1 would be calling nature something worse than a politician4 ,mr4 ,daniel ,gregory ,mason1 whose wholesome influence1 by the way1 is doing as much perhaps for music in ,america as ,american music is1 amusingly says3 ,if indeed the land of ,lincoln and ,emerson has degenerated until nothing remains of it but a 'jerk and rattle1' then we1 at least1 are free to repudiate this false patriotism of 'my ,country right or wrong1' to insist that better than bad music is no music1 and to let our beloved art subside finally under the clangor of the subway gongs and automobile horns1 dead1 but not dishonored4 ,and so may we ask3 ,is it better to sing inadequately of the leaf on ,walden floating1 and die dead but not dishonored1 or to sing adequately of the cherry on the cocktail1 and live forever8 #f ,if anyone has been strong enough to escape these rocks--this ,scylla and ,charybdis1--has survived these wrong choices1 these under-values with their prizes1 ,bohemias and heroes1 is not such a one in a better position1 is he not abler and freer to declare himself and so to love his cause so singly that he will cleave to it1 and forsake all else8 ,what is this cause for the ,american composer but the utmost musical beauty that he1 as an individual man1 with his own qualities and defects1 is capable of understanding and striving towards8--forsaking all else except those types of musical beauty that come home to him1 footnote3 ,contemporary ,composers1 ,d4 ,g4 ,mason1 ,macmillan ,co41 ,n4 ,y4 and that his spiritual conscience intuitively approves4 ,it matters not one jot1 provided this course of personal loyalty to a cause be steadfastly pursued1 what the special characteristics of the style of the music may be to which one gives one's devotion4 footnote3 ,contemporary ,composers1 ,d4 ,g4 ,mason1 ,macmillan ,co41 ,n4 ,y4 ,this1 if over-translated1 may be made to mean1 what we have been trying to say--that if your interest1 enthusiasm1 and devotion on the side of substance and truth1 are of the stuff to make you so sincere that you sweat--to hell with manner and repose6 ,mr4 ,mason is responsible for too many young minds1 in their planting season to talk like this1 to be as rough1 or to go as far1 but he would probably admit that1 broadly speaking--some such way1 i4e41 constantly recognizing this ideal duality in art1 though not the most profitable road for art to travel1 is almost its only way out to eventual freedom and salvation4 ,sidney ,lanier1 in a letter to ,bayard ,taylor writes3 ,i have so many fair dreams and hopes about music in these days 7#ahge74 ,it is gospel whereof the people are in great need4 ,as ,christ gathered up the ,ten ,commandments and redistilled them into the clear liquid of the wondrous eleventh--love ,god utterly and thy neighbor as thyself--so ,i think the time will come when music rightly developed to its now little forseen grandeur will be found to be a late revelation of all gospels in one4 ,could the art of music1 or the art of anything have a more profound reason for being than this8 ,a conception unlimited by the narrow names of ,christian1 ,pagan1 ,jew1 or ,angel6 ,a vision higher and deeper than art itself6 #g ,the humblest composer will not find true humility in aiming low--he must never be timid or afraid of trying to express that which he feels is far above his power to express1 any more than he should be afraid of breaking away1 when necessary1 from easy first sounds1 or afraid of admitting that those half truths that come to him at rare intervals1 are half true1 for instance1 that all art galleries contain masterpieces1 which are nothing more than a history of art's beautiful mistakes4 ,he should never fear of being called a high-brow--but not the kind in ,prof4 ,brander ,matthews' definition4 ,john ,l4 ,sullivan was a high-brow in his art4 ,a high-brow can always whip a low-brow4 ,if he truly seeks1 he will surely find many things to sustain him4 ,he can go to a part of ,alcott's philosophy--that all occupations of man's body and soul in their diversity come from but one mind and soul6 ,if he feels that to subscribe to all of the foregoing and then submit1 though not as evidence1 the work of his own hands is presumptuous1 let him remember that a man is not always responsible for the wart on his face1 or a girl for the bloom on her cheek1 and as they walk out of a ,sunday for an airing1 people will see them--but they must have the air4 ,he can remember with ,plotinus1 that in every human soul there is the ray of the celestial beauty1 and therefore every human outburst may contain a partial ray4 ,and he can believe that it is better to go to the plate and strike out than to hold the bench down1 for by facing the pitcher1 he may then know the umpire better1 and possibly see a new parabola4 ,his presumption1 if it be that1 may be but a kind of courage juvenal sings about1 and no harm can then be done either side4 ,cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator4 #h ,to divide by an arbitrary line something that cannot be divided is a process that is disturbing to some4 ,perhaps our deductions are not as inevitable as they are logical1 which suggests that they are not logic4 ,an arbitrary assumption is never fair to all any of the time1 or to anyone all the time4 ,many will resent the abrupt separation that a theory of duality in music suggests and say that these general subdivisions are too closely inter-related to be labeled decisively--this or that4 ,there is justice in this criticism1 but our answer is that it is better to be short on the long than long on the short4 ,in such an abstruse art as music it is easy for one to point to this as substance and to that as manner4 ,some will hold and it is undeniable--in fact quite obvious--that manner has a great deal to do with the beauty of substance1 and that to make a too arbitrary division1 or distinction between them1 is to interfere1 to some extent1 with an art's beauty and unity4 ,there is a great deal of truth in this too4 ,but on the other hand1 beauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ears lie back in an easy chair4 ,many sounds that we are used to1 do not bother us1 and for that reason1 we are inclined to call them beautiful4 ,frequently1--possibly almost invariably1--analytical and impersonal tests will show1 we believe1 that when a new or unfamiliar work is accepted as beautiful on its first hearing1 its fundamental quality is one that tends to put the mind to sleep4 ,a narcotic is not always unnecessary1 but it is seldom a basis of progress1--that is1 wholesome evolution in any creative experience4 ,this kind of progress has a great deal to do with beauty--at least in its deeper emotional interests1 if not in its moral values4 7,the above is only a personal impression1 but it is based on carefully remembered instances1 during a period of about fifteen or twenty years47 ,possibly the fondness for individual utterance may throw out a skin-deep arrangement1 which is readily accepted as beautiful--formulae that weaken rather than toughen up the musical-muscles4 ,if the composer's sincere conception of his art and of its functions and ideals1 coincide to such an extent with these groove-colored permutations of tried out progressions in expediency1 that he can arrange them over and over again to his transcendent delight--has he or has he not been drugged with an overdose of habit-forming sounds8 ,and as a result do not the muscles of his clientele become flabbier and flabbier until they give way altogether and find refuge only in a seasoned opera box--where they can see without thinking8 ,and unity is too generally conceived of1 or too easily accepted as analogous to form1 and form 7as analogous7 to custom1 and custom to habit1 and habit may be one of the parents of custom and form1 and there are all kinds of parents4 ,perhaps all unity in art1 at its inception1 is half-natural and half-artificial but time insists1 or at least makes us1 or inclines to make us feel that it is all natural4 ,it is easy for us to accept it as such4 ,the unity of dress for a man at a ball requires a collar1 yet he could dance better without it4 ,coherence1 to a certain extent1 must bear some relation to the listener's subconscious perspective4 ,for example1 a critic has to listen to a thousand concerts a year1 in which there is much repetition1 not only of the same pieces1 but the same formal relations of tones1 cadences1 progressions1 etc4 ,there is present a certain routine series of image-necessity-stimulants1 which he doesn't seem to need until they disappear4 ,instead of listening to music1 he listens around it4 ,and from this subconscious viewpoint1 he inclines perhaps more to the thinking about than thinking in music4 ,if he could go into some other line of business for a year or so perhaps his perspective would be more naturally normal4 ,the unity of a sonata movement has long been associated with its form1 and to a greater extent than is necessary4 ,a first theme1 a development1 a second in a related key and its development1 the free fantasia1 the recapitulation1 and so on1 and over again4 ,mr4 ,richter or ,mr4 ,parker may tell us that all this is natural1 for it is based on the classic-song form1 but in spite of your teachers a vague feeling sometimes creeps over you that the form-nature of the song has been stretched out into deformity4 ,some claim for ,tchaikowsky that his clarity and coherence of design is unparalleled 7or some such word7 in works for the orchestra4 ,that depends1 it seems to us1 on how far repetition is an essential part of clarity and coherence4 ,we know that butter comes from cream--but how long must we watch the churning arm6 ,if nature is not enthusiastic about explanation1 why should ,tschaikowsky be8 ,beethoven had to churn1 to some extent1 to make his message carry4 ,he had to pull the ear1 hard and in the same place and several times1 for the #agij ear was tougher than the #ahij one4 ,but the great ,russian weeper might have spared us4 ,to ,emerson1 unity and the over-soul1 or the common-heart1 are synonymous4 ,unity is at least nearer to these than to solid geometry1 though geometry may be all unity4 ,but to whatever unpleasantness the holding to this theory of duality brings us1 we feel that there is a natural law underneath it all1 and like all laws of nature1 a liberal interpretation is the one nearest the truth4 ,what part of these supplements are opposites8 ,what part of substance is manner8 ,what part of this duality is polarity8 ,these questions though not immaterial may be disregarded1 if there be a sincere appreciation 7intuition is always sincere7 of the divine spirit of the thing4 ,enthusiasm for1 and recognition of these higher over these lower values will transform a destructive iconoclasm into creation1 and a mere devotion into consecration--a consecration which1 like ,amphion's music1 will raise the ,walls of ,thebes4 #i ,assuming1 and then granting1 that art-activity can be transformed or led towards an eventual consecration1 by recognizing and using in their true relation1 as much as one can1 these higher and lower dual values--and that the doing so is a part1 if not the whole of our old problem of paralleling or approving in art the highest attributes1 moral and spiritual1 one sees in life--if you will grant all this1 let us offer a practical suggestion--a thing that one who has imposed the foregoing should try to do just out of common decency1 though it be but an attempt1 perhaps1 to make his speculations less speculative1 and to beat off metaphysics4 ,all1 men-bards with a divine spark1 and bards without1 feel the need at times of an inspiration from without1 the breath of another soul to stir our inner flame1 especially when we are in pursuit of a part of that utmost musical beauty1 that we are capable of understanding--when we are breathlessly running to catch a glimpse of that unforeseen grandeur of ,mr4 ,lanier's dream4 ,in this beauty and grandeur perhaps marionettes and their souls have a part--though how great their part is1 we hear1 is still undetermined2 but it is morally certain that1 at times1 a part with itself must be some of those greater contemplations that have been caught in the ,world's ,soul1 as it were1 and nourished for us there in the soil of its literature4 ,if an interest in1 and a sympathy for1 the thought-visions of men like ,charles ,kingsley1 ,marcus ,aurelius1 ,whit tier1 ,montaigne1 ,paul of ,tarsus1 ,robert ,browning1 ,pythagoras1 ,channing1 ,milton1 ,sophocles1 ,swedenborg1 ,thoreau1 ,francis of ,assisi1 ,wordsworth1 ,voltaire1 ,garrison1 ,plutarch1 ,ruskin1 ,ariosto1 and all kindred spirits and souls of great measure1 from ,david down to ,rupert ,brooke1--if a study of the thought of such men creates a sympathy1 even a love for them and their ideal-part1 it is certain that this1 however inadequately expressed1 is nearer to what music was given man for1 than a devotion to ,tristan's sensual love of ,isolde1 to the ,tragic ,murder of a ,drunken ,duke1 or to the sad thoughts of a bathtub when the water is being let out4 ,it matters little here whether a man who paints a picture of a useless beautiful landscape imperfectly is a greater genius than the man who paints a useful bad smell perfectly4 ,it is not intended in this suggestion that inspirations coming from the higher planes should be limited to any particular thought or work1 as the mind receives it4 ,the plan rather embraces all that should go with an expression of the composite-value4 ,it is of the underlying spirit1 the direct unrestricted imprint of one soul on another1 a portrait1 not a photograph of the personality--it is the ideal part that would be caught in this canvas4 ,it is a sympathy for substance--the over-value together with a consciousness that there must be a lower value--the ,demosthenic part of the ,philippics--the ,ciceronic part of the ,catiline1 the sublimity1 against the vileness of ,rousseau's ,confessions4 ,it is something akin to1 but something more than these predominant partial tones of ,hawthorne--the grand old countenance of ,homer2 the decrepit form1 but vivid face of ,aesop2 the dark presence of ,dante2 the wild ,ariosto2 ,rabelais' smile of deep-wrought mirth2 the profound1 pathetic humor of ,cervantes2 the all-glorious ,shakespeare2 ,spenser1 meet guest for allegoric structure2 the severe divinity of ,milton2 and ,bunyan1 molded of humblest clay1 but instinct with celestial fire4 ,there are communities now1 partly vanished1 but cherished and sacred1 scattered throughout this world of ours1 in which freedom of thought and soul1 and even of body1 have been fought for4 ,and we believe that there ever lives in that part of the over-soul1 native to them1 the thoughts which these freedom-struggles have inspired4 ,america is not too young to have its divinities1 and its place legends4 ,many of those ,transcendent ,thoughts and ,visions which had their birth beneath our ,concord elms--messages that have brought salvation to many listening souls throughout the world--are still growing1 day by day1 to greater and greater beauty--are still showing clearer and clearer man's way to ,god6 ,no true composer will take his substance from another finite being--but there are times1 when he feels that his self-expression needs some liberation from at least a part of his own soul4 ,at such times1 shall he not better turn to those greater souls1 rather than to the external1 the immediate1 and the ,garish ,day8 ,the strains of one man may fall far below the course of those ,phaetons of ,concord1 or of the ,aegean ,sea1 or of ,westmorland--but the greater the distance his music falls away1 the more reason that some greater man shall bring his nearer those higher spheres4 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999 9999 ,,info ,,about ,,this ,e-,,text ,,edition ,this edition of ,charles ,ives' ,essays ,before a ,sonata was originally published in #aibj by ,the ,knickerbocker ,press4 ,it has also been republished unabridged by ,dover ,publications1 ,inc41 in a #aifb edition1 ,,isbn #j-dhf-bjcbj-d4 ,this electronic text was prepared by ,john ,mamoun with help from numerous other proofreaders1 including those associated with ,charles ,franks' ,distributed ,proofreaders website4 ,this e-text is public domain1 freely copyable and distributable for any non-commercial purpose1 and may be included without royalty or permission on a mass media storage product1 such as a cd-rom1 that contains at least #ej public domain electronic texts1 whether offered for non-commercial or commercial purposes4 ,any other commercial usage requires permission4 ,use of the ,project ,gutenberg ,trademark requires separate permission4