des and changes on the face of Nature have no
meaning for it. It sees the bare appearance. It sees nothing of the
reality behind the appearance. It has no soul to wed to the soul of
Nature. It therefore sees no beauty.

But now supposing that among all the midges that buzz about a man
there happened to be an artist-midge with exceeding sensitiveness of
soul, one which was able to recognise a fundamental identity of life
between it and the man, one which was able to recognise
samenesses of feelings and emotions and aspirations, and by
recognition of the samenesses between it and the man enter into the
very life and soul of the man, then that midge would be able to
understand all the varying expressions on the face of the man, and
by understanding those expressions see their beauty.

We cannot expect an eagle in a similar way to have that
sensitiveness of soul which would enable it to enter into the soul of
Nature, understand Nature, and so see its Beauty. But what we
cannot expect of the eagle we can expect of man. We can expect an
Artist to appear who will be to the Earth what the artist-midge was
to the man.

Man does to some extent enter into the soul of Nature. He has
_some_ understanding of Nature. He sees Beauty; and whenever he
sees Beauty in Nature he is in touch with the soul of Nature. Even
ordinary men see some of the Beauty of Nature and have some
feeling of kinship with her. They have something in common
between their soul and the soul of Nature. They have the sense of
more in common between them and Nature than a midge has
between it and a man.

And in a delicately sensitive man such as an artist--painter, poet, or
musician--this sense of kinship with Nature is highly developed. In
regard to his relationship with Nature he is like the finely sensitive
and cultured artist-midge would be in regard to a man--the midge
who, through understanding the inner soul and character of the man,
was able to read the expression on his features and see their beauty.

What we ordinary men have to do, and what we especially want
those gifted with unusually sensitive souls to do, is to bear in mind
the difficulties which the midge has in understanding us and in
seeing any beauty in us, and the way in which it would have to train
and cultivate its faculties before it could ever hope to understand the
expression on our features--to bear this in mind, and then to take
ourselves in hand and develop the soul within us till