Nature centres into balls,
And her proud ephemerals,
Fast to surface and outside,
Scan the profile of the sphere;
Knew they what that signified,
A new genesis were here.
I think we talked about this in class, but the epigraph at the beginning of this poem is summing up the meaning of the text that follows. I never knew what an epigraph was, so I am proud to add another "smart word" to my vocabulary!!! (Thank you, Julie!!).
Throughout the text, Emerson reiterates his point that the circle is "the highest emblem in the cipher of the world." He makes several connections between nature and man, saying that circles or spheres are the very centers or elements that create life. They are the beginning and the end of all things, and every action, decision, path we take is displayed through these shapes and leave behind proof of their being within ripples. Emerson's main themes consist of an idealistic approach that everything in this life is interconnected, and one element cannot move without influencing another. He also feels that the thoughts of man can drive the genesis or creation of circles, and he exemplifies this through his statement: "Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth, that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens."
Knowing what we do about Emerson's creation of "man thinking," I think it's pretty safe to say that these thoughts are inter-connected. There cannot be evolution of circles without first the evolution of man's thoughts, and the challenges he faces to expand his mind past the natural world as we know it. "The key to every man is his thought." So basically, whatever truth man seeks, whatever methods he uses to further his thinking, man's thoughts are connected to every circle, and the circles are without end. "Scan the profile of the sphere; knew they what that signified, a new genesis was here." One must recognize what each circle signifies if we mean to expand or develop their meaning.
All this talk of circles is making me dizzy-- red rover, anyone?
I like this quote you pulled out in particular: "the highest emblem in the cipher of the world." It really encpsulates that Emerson saw life as some sort of code, and that examining nature unlocks this code. Awesome stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'm up for red rover. We'll put all the tables against the wall and have a GREAT time. Or maybe we should play in the atrium and be loud so we can make that buy angry again. :)
ReplyDeleteAll games aside, your blog post was great and I really enjoyed it. You said "there cannot be evolution of circles without first the evolution of man's thoughts, and the challenges he faces to expand his mind past the natural world as we know it" and I think this is a great evaluation and explanation of it and goes along with everything we've learned about romanticism!
I'll teach you something else: epiTAPHs go on tombstones or are poems written specifically for a dead person, while epiGRAPHs are all those things I described in the prompt. EpiTAPH, for whatever reason, is often the word that comes out of my mouth when I mean epiGRAPH, such as when I first said it in class. I said epiTAPH, which was wrong, and stupid, but you know how brains work. Sometimes I say "cat" when I mean "firetruck." Who knows. But know you know something else new.
ReplyDeleteAlso, good post!