"Like a poet hidden
In the light of thought,
Singing hymns unbidden,
Till the world is wrought
To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not.
"Like a glow-worm golden
In a dell of dew,
Scattering unbeholden
Its aerial hue
Among the flowers and grass, which screen it from the view."
We speak now of the poet as the Maker or Creator--[Greek: poiaetaes]; the
origin of the word "bard" seems doubtful.
The Hebrews well called their poets "Seers," for they not only perceive
more than others, but also help other men to see much which would
otherwise be lost to us. The old Greek word was [Greek: aoidos]--the Bard
or Singer.
Poetry lifts the veil from the beauty of the world which would otherwise
be hidden, and throws over the most familiar objects the glow and halo of
imagination. The man who has a love for Poetry can scarcely fail to derive
intense pleasure from Nature, which to those who love it is all "beauty to
the eye and music to the ear.
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