Deuteronomy 33:13-17 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew… It is the poetic sense which perceives beauty in the things of the natural world, where the purely prosaic mind would see nothing to attract or impress. What we call the "poetry of nature" is, in fact, that view of nature which is in the eye of the poet observer. Dr. Shairp has, indeed, claimed that poetry itself is as true a form of thinking as is science in its estimate of external nature; and that the place of poetry in the present order of things in our universe was not made by the conceit of man, but was intended by the Maker of this order. He is sure that, as Wordsworth claims, poetry is "the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge," and "immortal as the mind of man." The poetic spirit invests the things of nature with the emotions of the human heart; looking down through that which is seen, into that which is thought and felt. There are associations of scenery which grow out of the lessons of history; and just in proportion as the man of poetic soul is informed in these lessons is the scenery about him transfused with their glory and imbued with their inspirations. The arid wastes of desolated Egypt have fullest meaning to him who reads in the mighty monuments which tower above these wastes the story of the Pharaohs and the shepherd kings; of the priests of Isis and Osiris; of all the legendary rulers of the land of Mizraim from Menes to the Ptolemies. The fields of Marathon and of Marston Moor and of Waterloo have a meaning in the light of their history which makes the scenery about them vocal with the praise of noble deeds. And who could look upon the scenery of Palestine but in the glow of its sacred history? But history is never so dear to us as memory. No associations with those of whom we know only in story can so vocalise the poetry of our surroundings as do the recollections of our own former days of joy or sadness in that locality, and of our fellowship there with those whom we loved, and from whom we are now separated. But, after all, the best associations of natural scenery are the associations of truth; the associations, not of history or of memory merely, but of truth — of immutable truth that takes hold of the past, the present, and the future. There is truth pictured in all nature, even in the commonest phases of nature; and poetry is the heart's view of truth. There are associations of God's presence with every phase of natural scenery; and he who looks at mountain, or forest, or ocean, or plain, without recognising and rejoicing over these associations, lacks the true poet's soul and the true poet's eye. On the contrary, he who notes and heeds them finds comfort, as well as poetry, in them everywhere. (H. G. Trumbull.) Parallel Verses KJV: And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, |
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