Tact
Tact - meaning Summary
Address: Social Skill Wins
Emerson’s poem argues that social skill—"Address"—is the decisive human art. Talent, virtue, or eloquence matter less than the ability to comport oneself and connect with others. Through domestic, public, and political examples, the poem shows how tact opens doors, secures favors, and effects action immediately. Its point is pragmatic: success and influence depend on present, practiced address rather than abstract merit or future promise.
Read Complete AnalysesWhat boots it, thy virtue, What profit thy parts, While one thing thou lackest, The art of all arts! The only credentials, Passport to success, Opens castle and parlor,— Address, man, Address. The maiden in danger Was saved by the swain, His stout arm restored her To Broadway again: The maid would reward him,— Gay company come,— They laugh, she laughs with them, He is moonstruck and dumb. This clenches the bargain, Sails out of the bay, Gets the vote in the Senate, Spite of Webster and Clay; Has for genius no mercy, For speeches no heed,— It lurks in the eyebeam, It leaps to its deed. Church, tavern, and market, Bed and board it will sway; It has no to-morrow, It ends with to-day.
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