Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow the visit. - The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 9 (Poems)

Return to Title Page for The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 9 (Poems)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature

the visit. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 9 (Poems) [1909]

Edition used:

The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in 12 vols. Fireside Edition (Boston and New York, 1909).

Part of: The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in 12 vols. (Fireside Edition).

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


the visit.

    • Askest, ‘How long thou shalt stay;
    • Devastator of the day!
    • Know, each substance and relation,
    • Thorough nature's operation,
    • Hath its unit, bound and metre;
    • And every new compound
    • Is some product and repeater,—
    • Product of the earlier found.
    • But the unit of the visit,
    • The encounter of the wise,—
    • Say, what other metre is it
    • Than the meeting of the eyes?
    • Nature poureth into nature
    • Through the channels of that feature,
    • Riding on the ray of sight,
    • Fleeter far than whirlwinds go,
    • Or for service, or delight,
    • Hearts to hearts their meaning show,
    • Sum their long experience,
    • And import intelligence.
    • Single look has drained the breast;
    • Single moment years confessed.
    • The duration of a glance
    • Is the term of convenance,
    • And, though thy rede be church or state,
    • Frugal multiples of that.
    • Speeding Saturn cannot halt;
    • Linger,—thou shalt rue the fault;
    • If Love his moment overstay,
    • Hatred's swift repulsions play.