The real significance
of things lies in their interpretation, and the Imagination is the only
interpreter."
I had often had the same thought, and found infinite consolation in it;
indeed, I rested in it so securely that I would trust myself with far
more confidence to the poets than to the logicians. The guess of a
great poetic mind has as solid ground under it as the speculation of a
scientist; it differs from the scientific theory only in that it is an
induction from a greater number of significant facts. The Imagination
follows the arc until it "comes full circle;" observation halts and
waits for further sight.
Rosalind thought it very beautiful that Miranda's first glance at men
should have discovered them so fair and noble; there was evil enough in
some of them, but standing beside Prospero Miranda saw only the "brave
new world." I remembered at that moment that even Caliban discloses to
the Imagination the germ of a human development; has not another poet
written his later story and recorded the birth of his soul? It was
characteristic of Rosalind that she should see the people in the
marvellous drama through Miranda's eyes, and that straightway the whole
world of men and women should reveal itself to her in a new light. "To
see the good in people," she said, "is not so much a matter of charity
as of justice.
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