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American
Literature: Romanticism Student Midterm Submissions 2016 2. Short Essay 2a. Highlight and analyze a passage from our course readings |
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Peter
Becnel
10
October 2016
Perhaps, then, I should Gaze at the Stars
[6] To
go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber [room,
enclosure] as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though
nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The
rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he
touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design,
to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the
sublime.
[7] Seen
in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one
night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for
many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!* But
every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their
admonishing smile.*
Because Emerson’s essays are primarily conceptual, with few instances of
practicality or concrete examples, I had a hard time relating to much of what he
wrote. However, this lovely passage from
Nature, impressed me, and did more to help me understand Transcendentalism
than anything else I have read.
The passage begins with the notion of isolation, which is familiar to
Romanticism and Transcendentalism, whether through the lone hero or the solitary
voice separate from society. It suggests that there are some things that can
only be experienced in solitude by removing the inhibition of social
connections. This makes me think of Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as A Cloud,”
and also Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” which indicates that
Nature is thematically linked to both
English and American Romanticism. But, Emerson’s treatment seems to extend upon
these examples. The essay’s voice claims that solitude is not possible isolated
in a room, reading or writing. Is it odd that this is one of the first images
the word solitude brings to my thoughts? Emerson suggests this is not a truly
solitary state because the writer, either creating or receiving art, in a room,
something measured, constructed, is surrounded by and connected to the
constructions of society, the network of people that the transcendental writer
must transcend in order to experience the connectedness to all things natural.
Emerson insists that “if a man would be
alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly
worlds, will separate between him and what he touches.” This seems to be an
extension of one of the concepts presented in “When I Heard the Learn’d
Astronomer.” In the poem, the speaker leaves the lecture hall to avoid the
calculation and measurement of the sublime, and instead, goes outside to look at
the stars. Here, Emerson suggests that solitude is only truly possible when man
connects with the sublime in this way. It is as if the presence of the stars,
reminds man of the triviality of the immediately accessible, and in doing so,
the superficiality of his social connections and their constructions. The
objects that surround him, like the room the writer sits in, are things that
have been and can be comprehended, but the solitude he experiences in communion
with the sublime, cannot; thus reminding him of a deeper, more important
connection. The stars “separate between him and what he touches,” and by
communing with them, man is reminded of the transcendent connection, frequently
unnoticed that deserves the attention of all people.
Emerson indicates that “one might think the atmosphere was made transparent with
this design, to give man, in the
heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the
sublime.”
The notion of order in nature that may help man to enrich and fortify his life,
is something that Emerson repeatedly discusses in his work. Here, he uses
correspondence to suggest that the atmosphere is naturally clear because man
should constantly be reminded of his connectedness to a higher order, to
something infinitely beautiful and extraordinarily complex, in which he, too,
takes part. In his work, Emerson writes about the natural order, and the manner
in which this order may be useful because it presents a profound truth, which he
compares to a moral truth.
The line “seen in the streets of cities, how great they are” juxtaposes the
glory of the stars with one of the triumphs of urbanization, the creation of
“streets” and “cities.” However, the cities and streets—impressive human
accomplishments—are not worthy of being marveled at; they are simply another
incidental location where a more important connection can occur. The stars are
the spectacle worth seeing, even from such a vantage. My favorite line: “if
the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and
adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city
of God which had been shown.” This
concrete example imagines a world in which “stars. . . appear one night in a
thousand years.” What a remarkable idea. If stars were to appear so
infrequently, people would marvel at them awestruck; it would be the type of
connection that Emerson seems to want for people every day. Is it possible to
capture the feeling of being in the presence of something so complex and
beautiful, understanding that it is a natural part of the world, and that you
are a part of that same universe? This also brings up one reason for Romanticism
and Transcendentalism’s reverence for childhood. The child has seen the stars so
few times, that he is impressed with them in a way that most men cannot be.
The stars “light the universe with their
admonishing smile” because Emerson recognizes that people do not see the
stars the way that they would if they only appeared once in one thousand years,
but that there they remain, every night. Much of what he seems focused on is
forcing people to recognize that which they overlook that is not only
extraordinarily beautiful, but connected to them as it is connected to everyone
simply by being a part of the same universe.
