The function of reason is to know nature and to enable us to live in harmony with it. It cannot conquer nature as long as we are in the natural world. Perhaps things are different in the supernatural realm.
I thought of this while contemplating the poet Homer and the way literary theorists have often argued that his writing was most natural. How did he attain this level of mastery of nature? I would suggest that it was the work of many generations brought to fulfillment in his extreme genius.
It began with looking at reality and absorbing it honestly, then broadening the scope of perception until Homer came to harmonize in his vision an astounding depth of perception and range of beauties.
That is what a poet should do.
