Hazrat Inayat Khan continues his explanation of the influence that can be observed in works of art in all the fieldsL visual and plastic art, music, poetry and dance.

It is the same with poetry. Among the Hindus there is a psychology of poetry that is taught before one is allowed to write poetry, for it is not only the rhythm and the swing of mind and thought that should be expressed, but to write poetry means to construct something, to make something or to mar something. Poetry has sometimes the effect of bringing prosperity or decline to great ones in whose praise it has been written. There is a science attached to it. A poet may speak highly of a personality in his poetry, yet the construction of his words or the idea behind it may be harmful. It does not only harm the person for whom it was made, but sometimes – if that personality is strong – the effect falls back upon the poet, thus destroying him forever.

So it is with music. It seems a very good idea for a musician to imagine in a kind of magical music that a flood came and a city was destroyed and everybody who lived in that city was drowned. For the moment, it might seem amusing to him, a queer imagination – but it has its influence!

The most interesting thing is that through art, poetry or music, or through the movements one makes in dance, a thought or feeling is created, the effect of which is the outcome of the whole action. The art is, so to speak, a cover. How wonderful it is to notice that art, in its every aspect, is something living, something speaking. It is either good or evil, but it is not without meaning.

One sees in frescoes in old houses in Italy and in the art produced in statuary in ancient times that these works of art almost speak to us of the history of the past. They tell us of the person who made them, of his stage of evolution, his motive, his soul, and of the spirit of that time.

This teaches us that unconsciously, our thoughts and feelings are produced upon all things we use – a place, a rock, a tree, a seat, upon the things we prepare. However, in art an artist completes the music of his soul, of his mind. It is not produced automatically, it is very often a conscious effort, an effort that results in a certain effect. This shows that it is not enough to learn art or to practice art. In order to complete art, one must understand the psychology of it, through which one accomplishes the purpose of one’s life.

To be continued…