I read an essay about Emerson and the Aeolian harp which made me think about the British Romantics and their value of that same harp. The Romantics, as we all know, valued nature, and Emerson had this Platonist view of things, thinking that there was an ideal realm to try and capture in poetry.
Well, the Aeolian harp is a box with strings that sits in your open window, and when the wind blows through the window and the harp, the harp plays music. This music is, as far as I can tell, supposed to be that idealism played out by nature. I think most of the Romantics equate it to that spiritual experience that occurs in perfection. It tries to capture nature’s soul, a soul of goodness and perfection.
Emerson finds ideal beauty in nature and considers the harp the most beautiful instrument, so it makes sense why this Aeolian harp is such a big hit. It unites the beauty of nature’s wind with the harp creating beautiful music. Everything in the earth is a symbol of another world including everything in nature, and through the Aeolian harp we get an aural manifestation of the ideal world.
Well, the Aeolian harp is a box with strings that sits in your open window, and when the wind blows through the window and the harp, the harp plays music. This music is, as far as I can tell, supposed to be that idealism played out by nature. I think most of the Romantics equate it to that spiritual experience that occurs in perfection. It tries to capture nature’s soul, a soul of goodness and perfection.
Emerson finds ideal beauty in nature and considers the harp the most beautiful instrument, so it makes sense why this Aeolian harp is such a big hit. It unites the beauty of nature’s wind with the harp creating beautiful music. Everything in the earth is a symbol of another world including everything in nature, and through the Aeolian harp we get an aural manifestation of the ideal world.
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