Page:The poems of Emma Lazarus volume 1.djvu/21

Rh were, and through sympathetic emotion,—the emotion of the deeply-stirred spectator, of the artist, the poet who lives in the lives of others, and makes their joys and their sorrows his own.

Before dismissing this volume we may point out another clue as to the shaping of mind and character. The poem of &quot; Admetus &quot; is dedicated &quot; to my friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.&quot; Emma Lazarus was between seventeen and eighteen years of age when the writings of Emerson fell into her hands, and it would be difficult to over-estimate the impression produced upon her. As she afterwards wrote : &quot; To how many thousand youthful hearts has not his word been the beacon nay, more, the guiding star that led them safely through periods of mental storm and struggle! &quot; Of no one is this more true than of herself. Left, to a certain extent, without compass or guide, without any positive or effective religious training, this was the first great moral revelation of her life. We can easily realize the chaos and ferment of an over-stimulated brain, steeped in romantic literature, and given over to the wayward leadings of the imagination. Who can tell what is true, what is false, in a world where fantasy is as real as fact? Emerson’s word fell like truth itself, &quot; a shaft of light shot from the zenith,&quot; a golden rule of thought and action. His books were bread and