A Relationship With Nature: Romanticism

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Recommended: The attitude of the Romantic poets towards nature

Nature has been celebrated so much through art, photography, poetry and other literature that many people see that it is a norm to associate nature and beauty. These artists use their talent to reveal the interpersonal connection that they have with nature.
Towards the end of the 18th century, Romanticism arose as an intellectual movement in reaction to the Industrial Revolution, which focused on the scientific reasoning of nature. Romanticists believed in nature as a foundation of celestial emotions and thoughts that brought about a sense of peace, tranquility, and renewal, instead of the unnatural feelings and visions depicted by the new technologically advanced world. This revolt against the scientific view of nature was mostly portrayed through visual arts and literature, in which artists and philosophers placed a strong emphasis on the eminence and beauty of natural surroundings.
However, some literary poems that illustrate Romanticism’s mystical view of nature fail to acknowledge the involuntary complexity of nature and its effect on people. If humans are believed to exist in harmony with nature, it is a wonder how some people admire nature and its beauty, while others despise it. In any situation, the outcome is a product of the person’s attitude towards the situation. Just like with nature, the same environment exists around people, regardless of how they choose to interpret it. Nature is an uncontrollable force that has no apprehension of its effect on man’s welfare. Therefore, it can be either soothing or calamitous.
In Robert Frost’s poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, there is a conflict that results from the speaker undergoing a seductive pull toward the woods and a depressing pull of responsibility that...

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Stone, Edward. "Crane’s "Soldier of the Legion"" American Literature 30.2 (1958): 242-44. JSTOR. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. .

Watkins, Floyd C. "Going and Coming Back: Robert Frost's Religious Poetry." Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Gale, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. .

West, Ray B., Jr. "Stephen Crane: Author in Transition." American Literature 34.2 (1962): 218 28. JSTOR. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. .

Westbrook, Max. "Stephen Crane: The Pattern of Affirmation." Nineteenth-Century Fiction 14.3 (1959): 219-29. JSTOR. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. .

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