160 BIRDS AND POETS 



rather are summarized in his pages. He writes short 

 but pregnant chapters on great themes, as in his 

 "English Traits," a book like rich preserves put up 

 pound for pound, a pound of Emerson to every 

 pound of John Bull. His chapter on Swedenborg 

 in " Eepresentative Men" is a good sample of his 

 power to abbreviate and restate^ with added force. 

 His mind acts like a sun-lens in gathering the cold 

 pale beams of that luminary to a focus which warms 

 and stimulates the reader in a surprising manner. 

 The gist of the whole matter is here ; and how much 

 weariness and dullness and plodding is left out ! 



In fact, Emerson is an essence, a condensation; 

 more so, perhaps, than any other man who has ap- 

 peared in literature. Nowhere else is there such a 

 preponderance of pure statement, of the very attar 

 of- thought over the bulkier, circumstantial, qualify- 

 ing, or secondary elements. He gives us net re- 

 sults. He is like those strong artificial fertilizers. 

 A pinch of him is equivalent to a page or two of 

 Johnson, and he is pitched many degrees higher as 

 an essayist than even Bacon. He has had an im- 

 mediate stimulating effect upon all the best minds 

 of the country; how deep or lasting this influence 

 will be remains to be seen. 



This point and brevity has its convenience and 

 value especially in certain fields of literature. I by 

 no means would wish to water Emerson; yet it will 

 not do to lose sight of the fact that mass and inertia 

 are indispensable to the creator. Considering him 

 as poet alone, I have no doubt of his irremediable 



