Painting the Words: Language and Literature in the Visual Arts

In his essay, The Poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes: “The poet is the sayer, the namer, and represents beauty. He is a sovereign and stands on the centre. For the world is not painted or adorned, but it is from the beginning beautiful; and God has not made some beautiful things, but Beauty is the creator of the universe” (1182). He goes on to say, “The poet has a new thought; he has a whole new experience to unfold; he will tell us how it was with him, and all men will be richer in his fortune. For, the experience of each new age requires a new confession, and the world seems always waiting for its poet” (1183). Throughout time, human kind has struggled to respond to a universal need to express their humanity and their places in the world. According to Emerson, it is the artist (the author, poet, painter, etc.) who is best able to express beauty and either verbally or visually represent the thoughts of others