SOURCE: "The Poet," in American Literary Essays, edited by Lewis Leary, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1960, pp. 161-74.

The following is an excerpt from the noted essay, "The Poet, " which first appeared as the introductory essay in Emerson's 1844 collection Essays: Second Series. In this piece, Emerson describes the poet's intuitive sense and ability to record his perceptions, often with symbols from nature.

Those who are esteemed umpires of taste are often persons who have acquired some knowledge of admired pictures or sculptures, and have an inclination for whatever is elegant; but if you inquire whether they are beautiful souls, and whether their own acts are like fair pictures, you learn that they are selfish and sensual. Their cultivation is local, as if you should rub a log of dry wood in one spot to produce fire, all the rest remaining cold. Their knowledge of the fine arts is some...