Emerson wrote, "But when the intervals of darkness come, as come they must,--when the sun is hid, and the stars withdraw their shining, --we repair to the lamps which were kindled by their ray, to guide our steps to the East again, where the dawn is."
I think "intervals of darkness" could refer to a number of things. It could be taken literally and really just mean darkness or nighttime, but I don't feel that is the true definition. It could also mean depression, seclusion, or possibly be a standstill. Given the context this passage is surrounded by, it seems as if "intervals of darkness" is referring to a standstill in one's education, thoughts, personal growth, or even progression in educational methods.
Next, the sun is seen as not only a natural beauty, but also a source of life for practically every living thing on our planet. When Emerson uses "when the sun is hid," I think that he is using the sun to refer to brilliance, intelligence, educational progression, personal growth... or something along those lines.
I find it interesting that he says "the sun is hid," which he follows with "and the stars withdraw their shining." It could be just Emerson's style, but the simple word "is" may imply that something or someone has taken away the sun - or whatever the sun stands for. That small word can completely change the meaning of the passage. It could refer to the time period or reputation of scholarly individuals. Emerson explains that during the era, men who chose to become educated and immerse themselves into information were not considered "real men." The social stigma during that period of time may have caused interest to recede.
I think that when Emerson writes "and the stars withdraw their shining," he could be referring to individuals who possibly stand out or are truly dedicated to education that decided to hide their own interests or findings. He could be referring to leaders, too, who have decided to cut back on motivating others or have decreased the importance of advancing educationally, intellectually, personally, etc.
Emerson also writes, "we repair to the lamps which were kindled by their ray." I think the word "we" is referring to scholars, people following education progression, or it could be a group of everyday ordinary people. I also feel like "repair" is an odd word to use here. It seems that instead of its literal meaning, repair seems to take on the meaning of rely or fall back on. I feel like "lamps" could refer to intellectual products such as stories, novels, speeches, theories, writings, etc. This seems to be a possible meaning because of the fact that lamps is followed by "which were kindled by their ray." This particular part of the passage may refer to the "stars" who have helped people progress. When they stop, their previous findings or advances (lamps) - whatever they are - are left behind for people to study, immerse themselves in, or branch off of. The leaders in education, free thought, exploration - have left their own knowledge for others to discover.
Emerson's last part of this passage, "to guide our steps to the East again, where the dawn is," seems as if it suggests that people will never be shut off from learning, that there will always be someone or something that will lead them to progress and grow. I think he uses "East" in this particular part because the sun rises in the East. If he truly refers to the sun as progression, brilliance, intellect, etc., Emerson is almost saying that even though there will be stagnant times, progression will never cease to exist.
While this is quite lengthy and a bit wordy, I feel that Emerson is ultimately trying to say... Although there will be times with little progress, we may look to previous scholars to learn from their findings and thoughts to develop our own novel and fresh ideas for the future. Learning will never be quelled.
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