bal
symbols of things; not on the other hand mere _words_, but thoughts
expressed in language. Call to mind the meaning of the Greek word which
expresses this special prerogative of Man over the feeble intelligence
of the lower animals. It is called Logos. What does Logos mean? It
stands both for _reason_ and for _speech_, and it is difficult to say
which means more properly. It means both at once: why? Because really
they cannot be divided.... When we can separate light and illumination,
life and motion, the convex and the concave of a curve, then will it be
possible for thought to tread speech under foot and to hope to do
without it--then will it be conceivable that the vigorous and fertile
intellect should renounce its own double, its instrument of expression
and the channel of its speculations and emotions." Words, in short, are
the outward and visible signs of thought: that, and something
more--since you may prove by experiment that the shortest and simplest
train of thought cannot be followed unless at every step the mind
silently casts it into the mould of words.

* * * * *

As an instrument for reconciling Man's inward harmony with the great
outer harmony of the Universe, Poetry is notoriously imperfect. Men have
tried others therefore--others that appeared at first sight more
promising, such as Music and Mathematics--yet on the whole to their
disappointment.

Take Mathematics. Numbers inhere in all harmony. By numbers harmony can
be expressed far more severely than by Poetry, and so successfully up to
a point, that poets have borrowed the very word to dignify their poor
efforts. They "lisp in numbers"--or so they say: and the curious may
turn to the _Parmenides_, to Book vii. of _The Republic_ and others of
the _Dialogues_ and note how Plato, hunting on the trail of many
distinguished predecessors, pursues Mathematics up to the point where,
as a means of interpreting to Man the Universal harmony, Mathematics,
like Philosophy, inevitably breaks down. Mathematics, an abstract
science, breaks down just because it is abstract and in no way personal:
because though it may calculate and time and even weigh parts of the
greater Universe, it cannot, by defect of its nature, bring its
discoveries back to bear on the other harmony of Man. It is impersonal
and therefore nescient of his need. Though by such a science he gain the
whole world, it shall not profit a man who misses from it his