LITR 5535: American Romanticism

Student Presentation on Reading Selections, fall 2000

Reader: Doreen Williams-Stewart

Respondent: Lathon Lewis

30 September 2000

Emerson’s Nature

Readings taken from Norton Anthology of American Literature, 5th Shorter Ed., pp. 497, 498, 503, 505, 511.

Ralph Waldo Emerson –1803 to1882-- had a strong religious background. This shows itself in his perspective, e. g. the notion of seeing things through the eyes of a child, to get an uncluttered/ untainted viewpoint. Nature provides a great symbolic framework for Emerson. The mirror of the cycle of life and death which nature exhibits; the identification with and the constant need to transcend the boundaries of flora and fauna, are constant sources of inspiration and concern for him. Emerson piths himself against nature; it is his greatest symbolic framework; it is the lover, known yet unknown.

Emerson writes, "There are new lands, new men, new thoughts" (497). This idea of newness, of the possibility of adventure, of almost being a new Adam in a new space, which has endless potential, is not only a very romantic one but also a very American notion.

Paragraph two on page 498 can be seen in the context of the lure of inaccessibility. There is romance in the distance between desire and non-attainment of that desire as opposed to the loss of desire with attainment. On page 499 Emerson talks about the transparent eyeball, where in the scheme of things man is nothing but he has the ability to process, he becomes a conduit for the currents of the universe. In this respect he romanticizes man as being a "particle of God", the higher "stuff" of the universe defines man.

On page 503 from the 15th line down for about four lines, the reading can be seen as relative to the romantic spirit. This excerpt speaks of beauty being found in lowly places, that its true self can be seen in humble abode. The correlation here can be seen between nature and other natural inclinations such as truth and heroism, the beauty of lofty ideals being supported/ acknowledged by nature. Beauty is the mark God puts upon virtue.

Paragraph two on page 505 Emerson raises, again the question of man in the scheme of things and the idea of an over-soul, which I had thought negated before, is suggested in it finding symbolic representation in the language as "FATHER". In this chapter’s focus on language he explores the correspondences, which can be found between nature and human expression verbal and nonverbal. He projects nature, in the chapter on discipline, as helping in the understanding of intellectual truths. In the natural and constricted by natural laws he finds that moral echoes are to be found.

The classroom discussion centered around:

  • The concept of God with the lower case "g" and this was contrasted with the concept of the gender particular and upper case "FATHER".
  • Language and other symbolic representations.
  • Judeo-Christian notion of the world as fallen and in need of redemption.
  • Reflective innocence of the child, which could also have the aspect of lacking depth.