the child within

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“To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.”*



Long before the New Age movement that heralded the need to find "the child within," there was Emerson. And I might add, other than Emerson’s obvious gender bias, that child within he wrote about can take particular delight in the late night visitation from a treefrog. (See yesterday's posting.)

* From “Nature” published in 1836 by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) American essayist, philosopher and poet, best remembered for leading the transcendentalist movement of the early 19th century.


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