Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature Concept
Introduction
The Earth is the most beautiful planet. It has nature, a physical phenomenon, that is attractive and very appealing. It has given the human species the natural environment to live in. In the American frontier literature, it is depicted as a source of spiritual inspiration and also wisdom, which are expressed through devoted connection with the natural landscape. Romanticism is the source of this perspective that was an intellectual artistic movement that first appeared in the second half of the 18th century in Europe. This movement first emerged as a response to rationalization during the Enlightenment towards nature and industrialization that was widespread in the continent. Rapid urbanization and industrialization were also taking place in the United States of America, and the movement became an important part in the art and literature of the 18th and 19th centuries. The adherents of this movement viewed the natural landscape as the most crucial human experience and popularized the innate value of nature. Nature has had many interpretations and different revelations about the subject from various people over the years. The following research paper is going to analyze an argument about nature that was made by the famous poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and evaluate his position on the subject.
The writer considers nature as a personal experience of solitude and wilderness. He looks at nature as a setting that is very apparent to both an individuality and the society as a whole which portrays it in an aspect of solitude. The writer first notices this when he discovers that one looks in the sky and sees the stars whenever he wants to feel alone, and they inspire a feeling of satisfaction and respect because even though the stars are bright and beautiful, they are inaccessible (MacMichael and Leonard 342). He continues wondering how men would adore, believe and preserve, if the stars appear one night only in a thousand years, the remembrance of God’s city that had been shown. According to the writer, it is of absolute importance that a man is linked to nature. He notes that although a man faces real sorrows in life, a wild delight, however, runs through a man whenever he is in the presence of nature. He stresses that the intimacy between him and both heaven and earth has become a part of his food on a daily basis. The power of ecstasy that a person feels is due to the harmony with nature, and it becomes an elemental part of God when one comes into contact. The writer also adds that the pleasures of nature are to be enjoyed by humans with moderation it wears the spirit’s colors.
It is evident that the writer advances from viewing solitude as being not able to socialize to confirming it as the individual with self-reliance attributes. Whenever one is experiencing the tranquility of nature, he or she feels its own place in the world with ease though this is not a revelation that is automatic. The position of the writer in this argument shows that for one to achieve harmony between self and nature, he or she has to be receptive and ready to gain peace in the process. Nature is a phenomenon that provides humans with features and commodities that serve the human needs (MacMichael and Leonard 217). Although this is the case, for one to see nature’s beauty as an inner expression of virtue, he/she has to fully appreciate and accept it. When people comprehend nature and understand it the way they are supposed to, then it schemes with the spirit to liberate the humanity. Many people view nature as hostile to them due to the natural catastrophes and other phenomena. According to the writer, though this is just the reasoning of their immature minds, the only thing that would give us crucial insights towards nature is solitude from the outside society that is thoughtful.
In the past, people came to understand the Universe in their way by having a close relationship with nature and God, and all requirements they had to fulfill still exist at every moment in this life. The writer’s position in this argument regarding nature is to reject the wisdom that is received. He believes that every moment in time provides people with the chance to learn and approach nature from a different perspective. All possibilities and the spontaneous interactions that happen within the Universe make all observations and happenings of the past irrelevant at this moment, which makes the acquired wisdom also inappropriate. A person can have access to the laws of the Universe by combining the processes of his or her inner self together with nature (MacMichael and Leonard 691). The position which the writer takes seems to suggest that the natural world as the people know it and the spiritual world are completely separate. He also says that through idealism, people can have a way of looking at nature that is satisfactory, which seems like a hesitation that may hint that nature is an ideal. This, however, does not have any proves, and this comparison that he portrays only bruises his progressive argument about this phenomenon.
This argument that the writer tries to bring into perspective requires being spiritually open and enhancing intuitive reasoning because, according to him, sometimes a guess can prove to be worthwhile rather an affirmation that is indisputable. Millions of experiments can test and fail in unveiling the secret of nature, but a simple dream can be full of revelations for this magnificent phenomenon. The writer appreciates the material aspect of nature as very important for humans but views the laws of the Universe as belittling the importance and beauty of nature itself. He sees life as being very beneficial to the human soul by helping it to avoid the daily worries that everybody experiences. By opening one’s intuition and being receptive, the glories of nature and the landscape will become enlightened and give serenity to the soul even in the midst of physical problems that occur on a daily basis.
Conclusion
The writer views nature as a wilderness in which one experiences solitude. He stresses that the link between nature and a man and the harmonization of the two give ecstasy to the pleasures of life. When a man and nature are in contact, a person becomes an important part of God. Nature is not hostile nor is it violent to the humans, and a thoughtful solitude is the only thing that can open the immature minds of people to having the insights towards nature’s existence. The writer believes that embracing solitude solidifies self-integrity and, thus, leads to social relations that are fruitful. Every man always returns to loneliness, and the author’s position on his argument is that a man in isolation has the sanity and the disclosure that will soon be accepted by the society as the refreshment and the cure to selfishness.