The Court of the Universe is the most magnificent of the courts.
Considering the many units-the noble arches, the long colonnades with
their corner pavilions, the sunken garden with its fountains and
decorative sculpture, and the vista to the Column of Progress and the
Marina-it is by far the richest in artistic interest. But is it so
imposing, so vast, that it necessarily lacks the sense of quiet
restfulness and intimacy of appeal of the smaller courts. It is in a
sense the Civic Center of the great Exposition model city, and as such
it offers many suggestions of wise planning-and one or two of poor
planning, as in the case of the obtrusive band-stand.
The meaning of the court is to be found in the symbolism of the groups
surmounting the two triumphal arches-the Nations of the East meeting
the Nations of the West. With the opening of the Panama Canal the
peoples of the universe have met at last; West faces East on this shore
of the Pacific. The idea is finely expressed in the lines by Walt
Whitman, inscribed on the west arch, in which the spirit of the Aryan
race, having traveled this far, is supposed to speak as she gazes
westward to Asia, "the house of maternity," her original home:
Facing west from California's shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house
of maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western Sea,
the circle almost circled.
Variations of this theme may be found in the murals under the arches,
and in those under the Tower of Jewels near by. Other universal themes
are treated in the Fountains of the Rising Sun and of the Setting Sun,
and in The Elements at the edge of the sunken garden. The idea of
achievement, of victory in conquering the universe, is also suggested in
the triumphal arches.