Emerson and Thoreau as Prophets of Eco-wisdom
The major premise of transcendental eco-wisdom is that connection with nature is essential for a person's intellectual, aesthetic, and moral health and growth. One must see and experience nature intimately, whether defined as the "not-me" or as landscape, to participate in the unity of Spirit underlying its visible processes. This connectedness is the basis of the self-reliance which determines how a person lives with integrity in nature and society. Granted, the concept of self-reliance apparently devalues social concerns, including the global commitment and cooperation needed to bring about the kinds of changes that would reverse the climatic greenhouse effect, for example. Indeed, Emerson's ideas have been unfairly appropriated to justify the capitalistic exploitative excesses and insensitivity to social problems and long-term consequences that lie at the root of many of our environmental problems. However, we cannot fault Emerson and Thoreau for not imagining our current dependence on technology, the complexity of a largely urban economy or the ties of a global community. Yet even the notion of a self-contained Concord or Walden Pond, which might seem naive and outdated, is reflected in current ideas about eco- regionalism. By accounting for what they could not have known of our present condition, we can still find fruitful ways of understanding where humans, singly and as a species, should fit into nature.
Emerson's greatest gift was lessons in seeing in and through nature and extracting symbolic meaning, yet his own intimate encounters with the nature around him were relatively rare and indirect, with few concrete traces in his writings except as occasional metaphors. He wanted his revelations from nature to be abstract and come by surprise, as did the famed mystical encounter at the beginning of his book Nature: "Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear." In such an experience, even the self is absorbed by a greater power: "I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me." The metaphor may be unfortunate, but not his faith that a single person could perceive unspeakable meanings through experiencing nature, even if only indirectly. Such possibilities impelled Thoreau and countless others since to mine the details and processes of nature that Emerson had generalized, looking for embedded revelations and sharing in nature's "ecstasy.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a composer, a musician, teacher, and organist who later became a specialist in construction of organs. Bach learnt to play the violin, the orchestra, and the organ from his father and his famous uncle and twin brother to the father, Johann Christoph at a young age. The organ was his chosen instrument. He also achieved success in the art of Fugue, choral polyphone, instrumental music and dance forms. In Eisenach he attended Old Latin Grammar School, the same school that Martin Luther had attended. He sang in the schools choir. His parents died before Bach was 10 years old. His mother died when Bach was nine years old, his father’s death followed nine months later (Sherrane, 2011). After the parents death Bach was taken in by his older brother Johann Christoph who had already established himself as an organist in Ohrdruf. Johann Christoph had a great influence in Bach’s success in music as he taught him and encouraged him to study music composition. At the same time Bach was attending the Gymnasium grammar school in Ohrdruf where he studied theology, Latin...
When Johannes was in his tenth year he had made such remarkable progress that Cossel thought it best to secure a more advanced instructor. He was thus put under the care of Eduard Marxsen (Cossel?s own teacher), the royal music director at Altona, who took him unwillingly ...
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.
In Concord, Henry David Thoreau fell in love with the peaceful accord of the natural world. Thoreau found Concord's nature to be inspirational, soothing, refreshing, and mesmerizing. His perspective caused him to seek out a connection between himself and the natural world. It is a viewpoint that created within Thoreau a blissful oneness with nature. "I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least-- and it is commonly more than that-- sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all human engagements" (Thoreau, "Walking" 50-51). Thoreau effectively extricated himself from the trappings of society and found his roots by deeply connecting to nature at Walden Pond. “Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations” (Thoreau, Walden). He saw the relationship between the natural and the human as one of reciprocal harmony, because he perceived himself to be part of nature. He recognized that he was permanently linked to it. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau, Walden). He found personal harmony by reflecting on the...
The thought of not doing something or living a different way because of the perceived consequences could be a difficult thing to push aside, even more so for a slave. Thoreau surmises that the American work ethic is in many ways a form of self-imposed slavery and more detrimental than the life of a slave. With that in mind, Douglass, a slave who became free, could possibly give some context and disprove such a claim. The life of a slave is substandard of a free white man, which makes their life more controlled and their way of thinking of themselves is forced upon by the masters; thus, their release is prolonged and hindered which leads to a more trying life -- by being trapped and even when trying to escape being held back.
He asks the reader why we should not currently get the same kind of spiritual journey. “Nature” is said to be a suggestive essay that proposes that humans deserve a better connection to nature and spirituality (“Emerson”). Many churches believed that “Nature” was a direct attack towards organized religion and many transcendentalists believed it to be their “Bible”
Some of the most well known composers came to be in the in the classical music period. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the composers, along with other greats of the time like Haydn and Mozart, which helped to create a new type of music. This new music had full rich sounds created by the new construction of the symphony orchestra.
Not many individuals see what nature is able to do because they do not take the time to understand nature. People who are able to understand nature and understand life relationships are called transcendentalists. Some famous transcendentalists are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. These transcendentalists transformed their ideas into poems that were not like any regular poems. Nature has a big effect on individuals because it reveals the truth, lets individuals see who they really are, and helps with an individual’s personal life.
Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven both flourished in their compositions of classical music; however, their genre of music differed considerably. Bach was a German composer during the Baroque time era of western music which is estimated to have taken place during 1600 to 1750. It was during this time that he composed prolific church organ music which included such works as the Mass in B Minor, much scared choral music, and the St. Matthew Passion, as well as composing over a thousand works in nearly every musical genre except opera. On the other hand, Beethoven was a German composer whom began to emerge during the classical era of western music twenty years after Bach. This era took place throughout the years1750 and 1830. The large quantity of arrangements, over two hundred works in numerous musical genres composed by Beethoven was significantly influenced by his predecessors, onset of deafness, and his highly personal expression of intellectual depth. Such works include the first an...
In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Nature”, he develops his own perspective on the interconnection between humans and nature. As an admirable essayist and transcendentalist, he believed that man can have the ability to go and find the Truth in solitude and nature, and can return to reason and faith. “You cannot see the mountain near.” When one is near a mountain, it looks enormous; however, you can see it in its entirety from a far distance. There is no need to even perceive it as a challenge, especially if instead we focus on one rock at a time; loving and appreciating the journey. Having the right perspective towards things can help form a healthy reality. He believed nature could positively change people’s outlooks in life. In Emerson’s view, “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” In other words, he is saying that however someone feels is how they will view nature. From his experiences, he believes if a man becomes part of nature once again, loses his egotism and becomes a lover of beauty, then he has become a “transparent eyeball.” Having experience as Emerson did with nature can make one’s perspective more valuable and precious in this
Emerson's essay, Nature is essentially one that seeks show a new form of enlightening the human spirit and urges the establishment of a stronger link between man and the Universal Spirit through. Emerson sees nature as this inspiration to people and catalyst for a deeper understanding of the spiritual world.
In A Conservationist Manifesto, Scott Russell Sanders discusses his beliefs on how one can live a more satisfying and enjoyable life. More specifically, Sanders explains how this lifestyle is a more beneficial way of living by improving America’s problems of consuming, building a sense of community, helping the environment and appreciating nature. He argues that settling roots in a community and becoming involved are essential to living a pleasurable life. The best way to live out your days in Sander’s view is to absorb the natural spaces by using them as a way to relax rather than replacing the area with concrete buildings. His intentions are to persuade the reader and hopefully change their way of living to resemble a more humble existence like himself. Sanders has ambitious goals and provides favorable cases
In Walden, Henry David Thoreau explains how a relationship with nature reveals aspects of the true self that remain hidden by the distractions of society and technology. To Thoreau, the burdens of nineteenth century existence, the cycles of exhausting work to obtain property, force society to exist as if it were "slumbering." Therefore, Thoreau urges his readers to seek a spiritual awakening. Through his rhetoric,Thoreau alludes to a "rebirth" of the self and a reconnection to the natural world. The text becomes a landscape and the images become objects, appealing to our pathos, or emotions, our ethos, or character, and our logos, or logical reasoning, because we experience his awakening. Thoreau grounds his spirituality in the physical realities of nature, and allows us to experience our own awakening through his metaphorical interpretations. As we observe Thoreau¹s awakening, he covertly leads us to our own enlightenment.
When people really take their time to look at the beautiful world around them, and take it in, it is hard not to be amazed. Nature is the world around us such as plants, animals, ocean, and mounting. In Henry David Thoreau’s writings, he explores a different, more thoughtful way of beauty and life. Also, he shows his belief in transcendentalisms. Centrally, he focuses on the relationship between nature and wildness, civilization, culture and the freedom in nature. Also, he thinking deeply about nature and how can affects our self when we are alone. He extremely exaggeration, he trying to hang up and would attract us. Thoreau hopes to inspire and effluence others to follow their own inner guidance in nature.
As human beings we take everything for granted. We think not of the struggle that nature endures to blossom into something that we can find divine. Nor do we think about the hours and passion that a writer may have put into that piece of literature we pick up and read. We are expectant creatures who complain when it’s too hot outside, not even thinking that, that warmth is keeping us alive, or we get mad when it rains too much, not appreciating it for keeping nature flourishing. Ralph Waldo Emerson talks of humans’ disdain for nature and how detached we have become in his piece “Nature.” We’ll take a look at Emerson’s opinion on the lack of compassion and awe that mankind has for the world around them.