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Research papers on suicide
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The Connection of God and Nature in Bryant’s “Thanatopsis”
“Thanatopsis”, by William Cullen Bryant says that nature tells us different things at different times. When we are having good times, God and nature attribute to that.
When we are having bad times, God and nature are willing to help us through our problems. In this poem, Bryant makes a connection between God and Nature through society, imagery, destiny, status, and trust.
Although ‘Thanatopsis’ is the Greek word for meditation on death, it also can be seen as a meditation on nature. Nature is being portrayed as the main influence and supporter of the society: “She has a voice of gladness, and a smile/ And eloquence of beauty, and she glides/ Into his darker musings, with a mild/ And healing sympathy, that steals away/ Their sharpness, ere he is aware.” (4-8) More over, the poem indicates clear examples for a relation between nature and God. In fact, Nature is a direct connection to
God: “[...] all the infinite host of heaven...” (46) Therefor reflecting back to the previous statement, God is always there for people, especially for those who are suffering.
The poem also is mainly based on thoughts about death. The following lines are descriptions and images of death: “When thoughts/ Of the last bitter hour come like a blight/ over the spirit, and sad images/ Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall/ And breathless darkness...” (8-11) But the three succeeding lines that no one should be afraid and that Nature and God have the power to reconcile: “Go forth, under the open sky, and list/ To Nature’s teachings, while from all around/ Earth and her waters, and the depths of air/ Comes a still voice.” (14-17)
Even if you die alone the living will not live forever and eventually have the same destiny: “So shalt though rest, and what if thou withdraw/ In silence from the living, and no friend/ Take not of thy departure? All that breathe/ Will share thy destiny.” (58-61)
The death is there and cannot be ignored. However the message of the poem states that death is not bad, for it is a natural thing that is apart of everyone’s life. There is also no distinction among the status of people and all souls will be united in heaven:
“Yet not to thine eternal resting place/ Shalt though retire alone, not couldst thou wish/
Coach more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down/ With patriarchs of the infant world-with kings,/ The powerful of the earth-the wise, the good/ Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages
While thinking of death, thoughts of grief, despair and worry arise. Perhaps this is a product of the darkness often times portrayed of death from contemporary literature, movies, and music. Movies such as “Schindler’s List” and music such as Neil Young’s “Tonight’s the Night” are just a few examples of entertainment that show the darkness and finality of death. These forms of medium only present the idea, as no one who wrote them actually experienced death and therefore the dark thoughts associated with it are ambiguous. In “712 (Because I Could not Stop for Death)”, poet Emily Dickinson also shows the darkness associated but she has a different view of death. She writes from the standpoint of a narrator
"I think I was half prepared, in my dark, demented state, to see God, bearded and gray as geometry, scowling down at me, shaking his bloodless finger. (53)
...ct that they have got to sing with them in heaven or scorch with them in hell some day in the most familiar and sociable way and on a footing of most perfect equality (p. 4).
...rch has written great adventures into our journey, it may spell our doom as well. While this lesson is powerful in itself, there is another more powerful and more deeply embedded in the story’s flesh: that of nature’s ability to connect. Nature connects the elements that constitute the earth, it connects ecosystems and people and their environment. Most importantly, however, nature connects us with ourselves.
he concept of nature is elusive, and humans have never had a positive and unified way to name and interact with it. Since the colonizing of America, many leaders have had different definitions of nature, and have held different views on humans’ relationship with nature. These views have often led to destruction masked as “progress” (Marx 14). But not all definitions of nature are so destructive. Ursula Goodenough, a biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote The Sacred Depths of Nature to create a new religion based in the physical, chemical, and biological laws that govern the universe (Department of Biology). Goodenough’s treatment of “nature” illustrates her unique interpretation of the word. Goodenough understands the word nature to mean life, and life means biology. She uses this definition to inspire humans to care for the world we live in. And while she recognizes that humans can be separate, she also shows how much a part of nature we truly are. Recently, a proposition has been made to define First Nature as biophysical and Second Nature as the artificial (Marx 20).
Adam quotes, "for with thee/ Certain my resolution is to die; /How can I live without thee?"
“What is a man/If his chief good and market of his time/ Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more./ Sure He that made us with such large discourse,/Looking before and after, gave us not/ That capability and godlike reason/ To fust in us unused. Now whether it be. Bestial oblivion or some craven scruple/ Of thinking too precisely on th’ event” (4.4 35-43).
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.
...s seen in the poem, “The Need of Being Versed in Country Things” and the novel, The Old Man and the Sea. But a question that still remains very important is whether nature and man can ever coexist in a compatible relation?
It has never been an uncommon thing for one to retreat to nature in an attempt to ‘find one’s self,’ and somewhat cliché these days is the retreat to nature to ‘find God.’ Hundreds of books, essays, seminars, and retreats devote themselves to helping one understand how to find enlightenment and healing through connecting with nature. It is a phenomenon that transcends religious boundaries—everyone, from Buddhists to Christian Mystics to Quakers, seems to think that the key (or, at least, one of the keys) to enlightenment lies in nature. As one may suppose, this is not a new concept. Throughout literary history, there is a distinct trend of authors praising the virtues of nature, singing of the peace that it brings and the enlightening attributes of these places away from the noise and clutter of the cities. Shakespeare tells of finding “tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, [and] sermons in stone”(Shakespeare); William Wordsworth implores us to let nature be our teacher; Goethe claims that there is rest and respite on the mountain top; and George Washington Carver admits that he tries commune with nature everyday. It seems that from Henry David Thoreau right down to contemporary authors, no generation or writing period has been devoid of at least one prolific author who takes to nature in order to find the answers.
The main concept which permeates the writing of Ralph Waldo Emerson is that “the fundamental context of our lives is nature” (Richardson, Jr., Emerson and Nature 97). Emerson presents his theory of nature and its relation to man in three essays spanning almost a decade: Nature (1836), “The Method of Nature” (1841) and “Nature” (1844). There are many common threads connecting these works. One of the most notable is Emerson’s belief in the interconnection between all things – between all natural phenomena as well as between nature and the soul. Also, there exists behind and beyond Nature a Spirit from which all things originate. It is the invisible which gives rise to the visible and embodies truth and beauty. Bringing these two ideas together, Emerson shows how it is possible for man to access this unseen world through nature by using the faculties Nature has bestowed upon him. However, during the years spanning the production of these works, Emerson’s conception of nature changes. The result is three distinctive theories of nature which shift in tone from Nature’s idealism, to the disillusionment of “The Method of Nature”, to the pragmatism of “Nature”. With each piece, Emerson is asking different questions which illustrate the fundamental ways in which his characterizations of nature have been altered.
‘The care of each man’s soul, and of the things of heaven… is left entirely to every man’s self’
Death is tragic and one of the most finite things on Earth. It can turn an average human being insane and change his/her life forever. Losing someone close and dear is incredibly painful and an experience one will not forget. Death can cause numerous emotions to bubble up, like sorrow, and grief. In “The Raven” Poe utilizes imagery, diction, and figurative language along with symbolism to illustrate how isolation can cause madness when one comes to terms with the finite consequences of death.
When humans and nature come together, they either coexist harmoniously because nature's inhabitants and humans share a mutual respect and understanding for each other, or they clash because humans attempt to control and force their ways of life on nature. The poems, "The Bull Moose" by Alden Nowlan, "The Panther" by Rainer Maria Rilke, "Walking the Dog" by Howard Nemerov, and "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop, describe what happens when humans and nature come together. I believe that when humans and nature come together they either clash and conflict because individuals destroy and attempt to control nature, which is a reflection of their powerful need to control themselves, or humans live peacefully with nature because not only do they admire and respect nature, but also they can see themselves in nature.
...our experiences: the progress of our consciousness. This progress resolves issues of the self and one’s individual past, heals our psychic pain, and releases us from powerlessness and fear. By accepting the wilderness in ourselves we will understand the wilderness in each other and our connectedness. Nature functions as catalyst, as guide, as test, as teacher. Then opening the spiritual window to grace, we ultimately realize the possibility of being fully human.