contemplation of "the most beautiful word in the English language" is perhaps the most meaningful thing we could do to introduce the language to a student of english

Sorry, but I have to disagree. The contemplation of the most meaningless sentence in the English language is more meaningless than the sentence itself. This is not a criticism of you or meaninglessness. This does not mean that the assignment of such a contemplation ought not to occur in the school setting. In my estimation, school is more meaningless than the contemplation of the most meaningless sentence in the English language.

What is more, I think John Keats, one of the pre-eminent poets of our language, would agree.

Mister Keats, he dead.

What comes first, the awareness of beauty, or its analysis?

Meaning comes before beauty.
Language comes before analysis.
Thought comes before posting.