y interpret a
part. But though the philosopher-poet may not yet be found, we cannot
longer be ignorant of his nature. He will be, like all poets, one who
appreciates experiences or finds things good, and he will faithfully
reproduce the values which he discovers. But he must _justify himself in
view of the fundamental nature of the universe_. The values which he
apprehends must be harmonious, and so far above the plurality of goods
as to transcend and unify them. The philosopher-poet will find reality
as a whole to be something that accredits the order of values in his
inner life. He will not only find certain things to be most worthy
objects of action or contemplation, but he will see why they are worthy,
because he will have construed the judgment of the universe in their
favor.

In this general sense, Omar Khayyam is a philosopher-poet. To be sure
his universe is quite the opposite of that which most poets conceive,
and is perhaps profoundly antagonistic to the very spirit of poetry; but
it is none the less true that the joys to which Omar invites us are such
as his universe prescribes for human life.

"Some for the Glories of This World; and some
Sigh for the Prophet's Paradise to come;
Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go,
Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum."

Herein is both poetry and philosophy, albeit but a poor brand of each.
We are invited to occupy ourselves only with spiritual cash, because the
universe is spiritually insolvent. The immediately gratifying feelings
are the only feelings that the world can guarantee. Omar Khayyam is a
philosopher-poet, because his immediate delight in "youth's
sweet-scented manuscript" is part of a consciousness that vaguely sees,
though it cannot grasp, "this sorry scheme of things entire."

"Drink for you know not whence you come, nor why;
Drink for you know not why you go, nor where."

[Sidenote: Wordsworth.]

Sect. 12. But the poet in his world-view ordinarily sees other than
darkness. The same innate spiritual enterprise that sustains religious
faith leads the poet more often to find the universe positively
congenial to his ideals, and to ideals in general. He interprets human
experience in the light of the spirituality of all the world. It is to
Wordsworth that we of the present age are chiefly indebted for such
imagery, and it will profit us to consider somewhat carefully the
philosophical quality of his poetry.

Walter