Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): An American lecturer, poet, essayist, and philosopher. He has had greater influence ou the life and thought of people than any other American author. He wrote "Representative Men," "The Conduct of Life," "Society and Solitude," and several other volumes of essays and poems.
All are needed by each one; Nothing is fair or good alone.
BY R. W. EMERSON
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I thought the sparrow"s note from heaven, Singing at dawn on the alder bough;I brought him home, in his nest, at even; He sings the song, but it cheers not now; For I did not bring home the river and sky; He sang to my ear-they sang to my eye. The delicate shells lay on the shore;The bubbles of the latest wave Fresh pearls to their enamel gave, And the bellowing of the savage sea Greeted their safe escape to me.
I wiped away the weeds and foam-
I fetched my sea-born treasures home; But the poor, unsightly, noisome1 things Had left their beauty on the shore,With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar.
The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky,And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim;The unwearied sun, from day to day, Doth his Creator"s power display, And publishes to every landThe work of an Almighty hand.
(ADDISON)
1 Noisome: disagreeable; offensive.