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American
Literature: Romanticism Student Midterm Samples 2013 1. Long Essay |
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Joseph Bernard
28 February 2013
Nature: Sunshine
or Sadness?
Nature
has captivated the mind of man over the course of history, although in different
ways. Some view the naturalistic context as a gorgeous escape from life’s
troubles while others perceive it as a resource that is only to be utilized, not
enjoyed. This smattering of viewpoints about nature is prominent throughout
American Romanticism. By analyzing the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David
Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman, one can see that the view of
nature in the context of the American Romanticism movement varied from that of
finding divinity in nature to discovering a horrific side of human nature
Emerson
appears to have the most to say in terms of nature being used as a divine source
to help one discover his or her path in life. In
Oversoul, Emerson discusses the
Unitarian nature of his beliefs, expressing that while there are a number of
different beliefs, ideas and physical manifestations of creation, there is one
“soul” that unites it all into a cohesive unit. Seeing as there is one
“Oversoul” that connects every part of the world, is not nature an expression of
that Oversoul? And if one is to comprehend the nature of the Oversoul and by
extension find purpose in his life, should he not then lose himself in the
natural beauty that the Oversoul is linked to? Without nature, one cannot truly
appreciate what has been created, thereby rejecting any sort of individually
fulfilling path that one may have been able to carve if they had taken the time
to reflect on the Oversoul in nature.
While
Emerson serves as the enthused cheerleader of the divinity of nature, Thoreau
acts as a sort of tempered calm that both compliments and contrasts Emerson’s
style of thinking. In Resistance to Civil
Government, Thoreau plainly advocates for a self-governed lifestyle, one
free from the restraints of bureaucracy. To create that sort of environment for
himself and by extension give a model for his readers to follow, he goes out
into the woods and sets up a home and a garden for himself(detailed rather too
extensively in Walden). Throeau’s
individualistic tendencies compliment Emerson’s admonitions to “blaze your own
trail” and discover one’s own purpose in life. However, Thoreau and Emerson
differ in the sense that Thoreau was more humanistic in his approach, seeking to
meditate upon the wonders of nature(“the bluebird carries the sky on his back”)
instead of assigning it to a being or divinity. While this difference exists,
Emerson would certainly agree with what feels like a summative statement about
Thoreau’s philosophy: “Wherever there is knowledge, wherever there is virtue,
wherever there is beauty, he will find a home.”
As
Thoreau and Emerson romp through their positive outlook on nature, Hawthorne
stands ready to contradict their sunny disposition with his own view, which was
that nature possessed searing evils.
Young Goodman Brown features an upstanding young gentleman who goes on an
excursion into the woods. Immediately, he begins to start imagining horrible
things happening to him: “There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree…what
if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!” One has now made the leap from
the peaceful Oversoul to the ultimate being of evil, the Devil, being associated
with nature. Things do not improve for Brown as he is led to an apparent meeting
of Satanists, where he is shocked into unconsciousness. The melodramatic convent
of maniacal Satan-worshippers in the forest only adds to Hawthorne’s stern view
on nature, which is that is only contains the darkest parts of the spiritual
world, restless evils that haunt the mind forever once encountered.
Withdrawing from the darkness of Hawthorne, one discovers Walt Whitman, a man
who used nature as a way to not only reflect upon the heavenly calling humankind
has, but also a means of escape from the rationalist mindset. In “There was a
child went forth”, Whitman writes about a child who is learning about his
natural surroundings. The poet first launches into a catalog of gorgeous
naturalistic elements, allowing his imagery to capture the reader’s imagination.
Before long, the child in the poem realizes that nature must have come from
somewhere, but what is the source? Who made it? The answer lies at the end of
the poem, at which point the child looks up at the clouds and finds a sort of
“purity” that helps him understand that there is a pure way of life that can be
followed, that there is a heavenly call.
In “When
I heard the Learn’d Astronomer”, Whitman illuminates how he uses nature as an
escape from the rationalist mind. As the poet sits in on a scientific lecture,
his tone comes across as deflated and almost dejected by the professor
discussing charts, measurements and other elements related to astronomy. Not
impressed by this show of rationalist thought, Whitman leaves the lecture: “Till
rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself/In the
mystical..air/and…/Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.” There is a
“perfect silence”, a calm to nature that Whitman uses to dodge the scientific
hailstorm that attempted to rain on his parade.
Although
most who initially learn about Romanticism believe that all authors in the
period discuss it in a positive light, one can see that there are a host of
different lenses to examine nature, even in the Romantic period. Emerson and
Thoreau both advocate for nature to serve as a place to meditate and carve one’s
own path, although Thoreau leans to the humanist and Emerson to the divine.
Hawthorne denounces nature as a den of iniquity and Whitman seeks to avoid
scientific rationalization by seeking out the “perfect silence” that nature
grants.
