Beauty and truth …

… First Known When Lost: Flowers And Stars.

A good poem (or any good work of art) brings us back to the world. It prompts us to take a fresh look at things. This fresh look encompasses both human and natural particulars. These particulars are not always lovely and cheerful -- poetry is not mere escapism -- but, in the hands of a good poet, they bring us into the presence of Beauty and Truth.

These are things we intuit, in Aristotle's sense. We simply know them. We do not reason toward them. They are their own evidence and proof.