The Lords of Life
The lords of life, the lords of life,- I saw them pass, In their own guise, Like and unlike, Portly and grim, Use and Surprise, Surface and Dream, Succession swift, and spectral Wrong, Temperament without a tongue, And the inventor of the game Omnipresent without name;- Some to see, some to be guessed, They marched from east to west: Little man, least of all, Among the legs of his guardians tall, Walked about with puzzled look:- Him by the hand dear nature took; Dearest nature, strong and kind, Whispered, 'Darling, never mind! Tomorrow they will wear another face, The founder thou! these are thy race!'
The Lords of Life - meaning Summary
Transient Powers, Steady Nature
Emerson presents a procession of shifting, authoritative figures — “lords of life” — who embody forces like Use, Surprise, and Wrong. They appear in changing guises, guided by an omnipresent creative principle, while a small human, confused and minor among them, is comforted by nature. Nature reassures him that these powers are transient and recognizably his own, framing change as recurring roles within a larger, benign order.
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