EMERSON
146
the act of doing something, and there
part a feeling of expectancy. are mobile, he
hand
on
is
is
it
he
with
is
ways the suggestion of something that marks the work of genius.
Now
s lips
soldier s
about to grasp
his might.
all
on our
orator
The
about to speak.
his sword,
firmly and wield
The
is
it
It is al
that is
coming
two ways of looking at human from without or from within. We
there are
institutions,
may
look at laws and customs as
fixed
and
final.
They
carved in stone. existing order,
Or we may
We
they were
if
are the features of a giant
be idolaters of the
may
worshipping the carved image.
be iconoclasts, ready to give
smashing blow. But to one who seeks to look at
it
all
it
a
from
within, the institutions represent but the transi
tory glory of features of the Great Being.
Great Being
is
to come, he
is
earth.
thinking, he
is
The
dreaming of things
planning his dwelling place upon
The thoughts come
the acts follow each after
its
thick
and
fast,
and
kind.
Humanity, conceived of as a great composite