e deign to glance at, may be, on another, the very thing which
claims our whole devotion.

I had so long viewed the world with external vision only, and so had
been unable to see its universal aspect of joy. When of a sudden, from
some innermost depth of my being, a ray of light found its way out, it
spread over and illuminated for me the whole universe, which then no
longer appeared like heaps of things and happenings, but was disclosed
to my sight as one whole. This experience seemed to tell me of the
stream of melody issuing from the very heart of the universe and
spreading over space and time, re-echoing thence as waves of joy which
flow right back to the source.

When the artist sends his song forth from the depths of a full heart
that is joy indeed. And the joy is redoubled when this same song is
wafted back to him as hearer. If, when the creation of the Arch-Poet is
thus returning back to him in a flood of joy, we allow it to flow over
our consciousness, we at once, immediately, become aware, in an
inexpressible manner, of the end to which this flood is streaming. And
as we become aware our love goes forth; and our _selves_ are moved from
their moorings and would fain float down the stream of joy to its
infinite goal. This is the meaning of the longing which stirs within us
at the sight of Beauty.

The stream which comes from the Infinite and flows toward the
finite--that is the True, the Good; it is subject to laws, definite in
form. Its echo which returns towards the Infinite is Beauty and Joy;
which are difficult to touch or grasp, and so make us beside ourselves.
This is what I tried to say by way of a parable or a song in _The Echo_.
That the result was not clear is not to be wondered at, for neither was
the attempt then clear unto itself.

Let me set down here part of what I wrote in a letter, at a more
advanced age, about the _Morning Songs_.

"There is none in the World, all are in my heart"--is a
state of mind belonging to a particular age. When the heart
is first awakened it puts forth its arms and would grasp the
whole world, like the teething infant which thinks
everything meant for its mouth. Gradually it comes to
understand what it really wants and what it does not. Then
do its nebulous emanations shrink upon themselves, get
heated, and heat in their turn.

To begin by wanting the whole world is to get nothing. When
desire is concentrated, wi