Artist of the beautiful…from the richness of their visions.

“The chase of butterflies was an apt emblem of the ideal pursuit in which he had spent so many golden hours; but would the beautiful idea ever be yielded to his hand like the butterfly that symbolized it?… Alas that the artist, whether in poetry or whatever other material, may not content himself with the inward enjoyment of the beautiful, but must chase the flitting mystery beyond the verge of his ethereal domain, and crush its frail being with seizing it with a material grasp.  Owen Warland felt the impulse to give external reality to his ideas as irresistibly as any of the poets or painters who have arrayed the world in a dimmer and fainter beauty, imperfectly copied from the richness of their  visions.”

Quoted from: Nathaliel Hawthorne, from the story, ” The artist of the beautiful.”

Photo: Shala Monroque, “A light in the dark world”

Needless to say this story has special meaning for me.  It’s not that long if you’ve got some time to spare.