s. Whether we
look upon earth, or air, or sky, we may be sure that the unwritten
poetry of God is there. In our best moments we feel its presence,--its
mute yet eloquent appeal to our higher natures. It lifts us up into
fellowship with Him who thus speaks to us.

+47. The Poet.+ When material interests dominate the life of a people,
the poet is generally undervalued. He is apt to be regarded as an
unpractical, or even an eccentric and valueless member of society. Too
often the eccentricities of genius afford some basis for this prejudice;
but it is wholly groundless in the case of the largest and most gifted
of the poetic race. High poetic gifts are favorable to the noblest types
of manhood. The great poet, beyond all other men, possesses an intuitive
insight into truth, depth of feeling, and appreciation of beauty. These
gifts lift the poet out of the rank of common men, and make him, in his
moments of highest inspiration, a prophet to his people. In the language
of Bailey in his "Festus,"--

"Poetry is itself a thing of God;
He made His prophets poets, and the more
We feel of poesy, do we become
Like God in love and power--under makers."

Among the greatest of every nation, whether ancient or modern, poets
stand almost preeminent. In the Old Testament history there is no one
greater than "the sweet Psalmist of Israel." Homer stands in almost
solitary grandeur in the early annals of Greece. In the history of
Italy, what name is to be placed above that of Dante? In England there
are, perhaps, no names to be ranked above those of Chaucer, Shakespeare,
Milton, Tennyson, whose imperishable works abide with us, and in no
small degree mould the thought and feeling of each succeeding
generation. And among the illustrious citizens of our own country there
are few or none who have reached a higher nobility of character than its
great singers,--Longfellow, Bryant, Whittier, Hayne, and Lowell. Their
lives were no less sane than beautiful.

+48. The Poet as Seer.+ The poet is preeminently a seer. He discerns the
divine beauty and truth of life which escape the common sight; and
because he reveals them to us in his melodious art he becomes an exalted
teacher. In the midst of the tumults of greed and gain he lifts up his
voice to witness of higher things. In the presence of what seemed to her
a sordid generation, Mrs. Browning calls poets

"The only truth-tellers now left to God,
The only spe