Beauty is a combination of qualities that give pleasure to the senses. It is an inborn instinct in human to appreciate beauty. Beauty both of nature and of human form have been a powerful attraction for men and women of all times and climes.
A beautiful object fills the heart with joy and delight. The soul gets stirred by the external view of beauty. Man has developed an eye for beauty right from the Stone Age. The earliest cave-paintings depicting animals and trees prove the caveman’s love for beauty. Artistic creations are man’s attempts to depict the joy created by beauty.
A person may see a beautiful thing for a short duration but its memory lasts for a long time. Man cherishes the beautiful moments in life. The imagination helps to revive and relive the happy moments spent in the company of beautiful things. A colorful butterfly seen for five minutes gives instant delight for the same time, but if that scene is recaptured twenty, the joy becomes twenty fold.
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Beauty abounds in nature. The sunrise, the sunset, the moon, the starts, the rainbow and the seasons delight the senses. Beautiful sight and sounds of nature provide pleasure to man. The rivers, the forests, the green mountains, the snow-capped peaks and the flowers are beautiful objects of nature. They leave an impression on the mind of man. Recollection of this impression becomes a constant source of joy.
Beautiful objects are a source of inspiration for poets to compose poetry. Poets are more moved by beautiful sights than people of ordinary imagination. Keats was a great lover of beauty in all its varied forms. In most of his poems, Keats appreciate different forms of beauty. The dancing daffodils seen by Wordsworth during his travel left a mark in his memory. He composed a poem on daffodils after four years of that visit but he felt the same delight, which reflected in the poem. This proves that any aspect of beauty leaves and ever-lasting impact on human heart and soul. The great Sanskrit poet Kalidas has also graphically described in his poem Kumar Sambhav, the beauty of the forest blooming all round with the touch of spring.
Beautiful sights influence the painter to draw the same. His paintings are a poetry of colors which depicts nature as it is on the canvas. A painter always remains in search of a place where he could find ay form of beauty whether of nature or human to adorn his canvas with everlasting charm of beauty. A human face painted by a master painter will not only show the physical structure in its exact form but also reveal the emotion of the subject. The paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Hogarth, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Nand Lal Bose, M.F Hussain an others are a feast for the eyes and the mind.
What is true of poets and painters is equally true of sculptors, architects and musicians. They derive pleasure by creation of beauty. Their beautiful works are appreciated by all. A musician creates beauty by the harmonious blending of various notes and tunes. This harmony is a source of pleasure for the listeners. The music of Tansen, Baiju Dawra, Ustad Faiz Khan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, R.D Drman and others have been widely appreciated and applauded.
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Beauty is present every where like nature, literature, sculpture, architecture etc. Cement, stone, wood, brick all these things have no shape and beauty but when they are used artistically by the architect, they take the form a beautiful building. A number of historical building all over the world is a great world. Taj Mahal in India, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Opera House in Australia, The Great wall of China, are some of the buildings which are famous for their beauty.
Spiritual beauty is something nobler and higher than physical beauty. It is related to the beauty of the spirit and the soul. Spiritual beauty touches or soul. The pleasure and joy, we derive from it is sublime. Spiritual beauty is accompanied by truth and goodness- Satyam Shivam Sundaram as expressed by sage. We find a similar view in Keats’ poem, when he says, ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty’. Keats regards spiritual beauty as the source of true joy. Beauty according to Shelly is eternal. An object of nature may decay and man may die, yet both survive in thought, for beauty never dies.
Beautiful objects of nature also uplift the sprit if a pessimist. One takes a break from the environment of big cities and flocks to hill stations. The beautiful sights of nature in the hill stations refresher the mind. They influence a person to perform his task more efficiently then before. Beauty of nature has a soothing effect in it. In one of his poems, Shelly said that even death will be peaceful for him while watching the beautiful aspects of nature.
Beauty, whether physical or spiritual always gives us joy. There is harmony in the beautiful objects. This harmony is the attribute of the soul. Beauty links man with eternity. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.