Each day we walk outside and we see something beautiful. It is called Nature. Outside it holds so much more than we can see. We love the world around us and it is up to us to see it. The world shows us all that it can hold. The problem is we look at the world and see simple things. We see things that have no meaning, but are just objects. However, everything in Nature can have a hidden meaning. “Vivid pictures of landscape, but in them the Yankee point of view through which nature is seen is as vital to the meaning as the things portrayed.” (Lynen) Nature has meaning behind each part of nature. The problem of nature is each person has a different interpretation. One thing that might seem beautiful and wonderful to me is complete terrible or scary to another. We base our meaning off our own experiences. People who have been trapped alone in the forest are usually scared of going back into a forest by their own. We base what we know and how we feel off of past experiences. Robert Frost wrote the poems, Acquainted with the Night and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening which describes nature that has three main hidden meanings: things hidden in the stars, mountains hold amazing features and pure white is a beautiful and wonderful thing. Night shows how at night we can see beautiful objects that are hidden in the sky and behind the stars. Stars appear in the sky every night and they hold so many things that the people have to learn about. They hide so much behind twinkling lights. “The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence.” (Emerson) With a limited telescope, we can see moons, planets, galax... ... middle of paper ... ... as disgusting. It is up to our perception. What does nature represent for you? Can you tell me that it has no affect over you? Nature is the power that allows us to continue on. Works Cited Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature and Selected Essays. N.p.: Penguin, 1982. Print. A discussion on what Emerson thought of nature. Giordana, Paolo, and Anthony Julian Tamburri. Beyond the Margin. N.p.: Fairleigh Dickinson, 1998. Print. Talks about night and all that it holds. Lynen, John F. Pastoral Art of Robert Frost. New Haven: Yale University, 1960. Print. Talks about nature and what it stands for when referring to Robert Frost. Mars, Briglittle. Beauty by Nature. N.p.: Book, 2006. Print. What Nature can represent and how it affects people. Winnicott, D.W. "The Capacity." Psycho-Analysis 39 (1958): 416-20. Print. A discussion about how people can handle being alone.
Throughout the Romanticism period, human’s connection with nature was explored as writers strove to find the benefits that humans receive through such interactions. Without such relationships, these authors found that certain aspects of life were missing or completely different. For example, certain authors found death a very frightening idea, but through the incorporation of man’s relationship with the natural world, readers find the immense utility that nature can potentially provide. Whether it’d be as solace, in the case of death, or as a place where one can find oneself in their own truest form, nature will nevertheless be a place where they themselves were derived from. Nature is where all humans originated,
Emerson’s first published work is Nature, which includes the essence of his transcendental thoughts towards the exceptional world, as a kind of attractive sign of the personal devout life, hanging trancelike before the eye, yet, it is to be noted, having control as one of its teaching for the caring heart (305). After all the critics have read and reread Nature, hardly any of them have anything negative to state. Nature is just an undeniable amazing essay. As Alfred S. Reid stated, “Nature is a unique blend of...
Henry Thoreau’s relationship to nature underwent many changes throughout the course of his life. He especially made a much discussed shift from Emersonian Transcendentalism, to scientific data collection. Thoreau followed varied paths on his quest to understand the world in which he lived. As he grew older he managed to amass a huge collection of information about the plants and animals in the Concord region of Massachusetts. But his greatest contribution to the world is not his scientific research; rather it is the example of respect and thoughtfulness with which he approached nature. This individualistic and spiritual approach to nature differentiates him from modern day ecologists. Thoreau’s quest was to understand better and appreciate nature as a whole and the greater role it plays in connection to all things. Not only did he succeed in doing so, but he has also inspired his readers to question, observe, and appreciate the natural world. His thoughts on nature are recognized today as precursors of the conservation movement and also inspiration for the creation of national parks. Thoreau’s approach to nature varied throughout his life, but his purpose did not. His myriad approach to his work is exactly what brought about his success, and sets him apart from other nature writers and ecologists who share his quest.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Nature.” The American Experience. Ed. Kate Kinsella. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. 388-390. Print.
From the lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail to the environmental lobby groups in Washington D.C., nature evokes strong feelings in each and every one of us. We often struggle with and are ultimately shaped by our relationship with nature. The relationship we forge with nature reflects our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. The works of timeless authors, including Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, are centered around their relationship to nature.
Richardson, Jr., Robert D. “Emerson and Nature”. The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Joel Porte and Saundra Morris, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 97-105.
Holbrook, David. Dylan Thomas: The Code of Night. University of London: The Athlone Press, 1972. 196.
Many of the readings that we have studied in class have discussed the idea of human beings and our relationships with nature. The different authors we’ve studied and the works we’ve analyzed share different views of this relationship – a very interesting aspect to study. Human relationships with nature are truly timeless – nature can have the same effects on humans now as it did millions of years ago. Two of the works in particular which offered differing views on this relationship were “Entrance to the Woods” by Wendell Berry and “The Invented Landscape” by Frederick Turner.
Nature is a beautiful thing, but sometimes too much interference with nature can be punishing. Having an understanding of nature is vital to understanding higher truths. Don't take over nature, let nature take over you.
In doing this assignment, I was looking forward to becoming more appreciative of nature, and all that it has to offer us, wanting a better understanding of it all. It seems that we take all of the beauty of our earth for granted, we are spoiled and it shows. In completing this practicum, I hoped to return to a state of mind where everything I see has beauty in it, like a baby seeing things for the first time, when everything is so fascinating, that touching it in complete awe is all I want to do.
Emerson states in his 15th principle in "The Poet" that "there is no fact in nature that does not carry the whole sense of nature." To elaborate this claim Emerson states, "the distinctions which we make …disappear when nature is used as a symbol. Thought makes everything fit for use,"(Emerson Principle 15). Emerson is seeing nature as being a symbol. As a symbol, there are no taboos about what parts are nature can be explored and what part cannot. More specifically, even the most obscene, disgusting parts of nature can take on new meaning when they are used as symbols to represent such qualities as power or triumph. Therefore, there are no clear distinctions about what elements of nature represent; they can take on the meaning the poet gives to them. The poet becomes the one with the awesome power to give each aspect of nature a certain meaning depending on how the poet uses it in his work.
Walking throughout the campus there is so much beauty. The trees, bushes, plants and flowers are all so amazing and enjoyable to look at. What we do not realize is that they are not there to give us pleasure, either in appearance or smell; they are here for the same reason we are: TO LIVE!!! Everyday of our lives we look at nature as if it were ours, but is it really “ours” or are we its? Every flower, sweet smell and ravishing greenery you see around you is nature’s “nature.” Our mental tendency to think that nature is there to bring us joy has much to do with our egotistical thinking. We think we are the best. Well, did you ever sit down and think that all the species alive today on this earth have made it this far, and we are just spring chickens. Some of these creatures have been around longer than we have; so, who’s the “best” now?
“I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference” (Frost 19-20). Many famous lines like these have been written at different periods of Robert Frost’s life. Most of his poems can tie back to a specific time and place in Frost’s lifetime. Different poems convey various emotions as Frost writes about many personal struggles and successes that he encountered in his lifetime. Robert Frost portrays his childhood, marriage, and adulthood through his various poems, like “A Peck of Gold,” “Birches,” ”The Thatch,” and “The Birds Do Thus.”
To understand the nature-society relationship means that humans must also understand the benefits as well as problems that arise within the formation of this relationship. Nature as an essence and natural limits are just two of the ways in which this relationship can be broken down in order to further get an understanding of the ways nature and society both shape one another. These concepts provide useful approaches in defining what nature is and how individuals perceive and treat
"Frost, Robert 1874-1963." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 2: 1910-1919. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.