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From nature
- 1. “from Nature” By Ralph Waldo Emerson
- 2. Transcendentalism • Aphilosophical and literary movement whose followers believed that basic truths could be reached only by “going beyond,” or transcending, reason and reflecting on the world of the spirit and on one’s own deep and free intuition. • Transcendentalists believed that the individual could transform the world—not only through writing, but also through utopian communities, antislavery activity, and other social action.
- 3. • Here ismore information on the movement: – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism
- 4. Vocabulary • Perpetual– adj. Lasting forever; eternal • Integrate – v. to bring all parts together into a whole • Decorum – n. conformity to the approved standards of good taste • Perennial – adj. Continuing year after year; enduring • Blithe – adj. Lighthearted and carefree; cheerful • Occult – adj. Beyond human understanding; mysterious
- 5. “from Nature” Solitudeand a glimpse of the sublime are found by gazing at the stars. Natural objects arouse our delight if we are open to their influence and if we see as a child or poet does: with our eyes and our hearts. In nature we become youthful, return to reason and faith, lose our egotism, and become one with the universal mind and the natural world. Delight comes not only from nature but also from within ourselves.
- 6. Important Quotations “…ifa man would be alone, let him look at the stars.” “In the woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life is always a child.” “In the woods is perpetual youth.”
- 7. Important Quotations “Inthe woods, we return to reason and faith.” “…all mean egotism vanishes.” “I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God.”
- 8. Important Quotations “Naturealways wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it. Then there is a kind of contempt of the landscape felt by him who has just lost by death a dear friend. The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the population.”
- 9. “from Nature,” p.244 Questions # 1 • According to Emerson, why should people look at the stars if they wish to be alone? Their rays “separate” them from the tangible world. • How would people respond if the stars appeared only once in a thousand years? People might think that the sublime is always transient and rare. • What does this suggest about Emerson’s view of human nature? Emerson emphasizes its permanence and availability.
- 10. “from Nature,” p.244 Questions # 2 • In Emerson’s view, how do adults and children differ in the way they view nature? Adults see with the eye: children, with both eye and heart. • What does Emerson suggest accounts for this difference? Children’s “inward and outward senses” are still working in conjunction.
- 11. “from Nature,” p.244 Questions # 3 • How do changing seasons affect lovers of nature? The changes provide nature lovers with new delights and moods. • Why might Emerson have felt exhilarated by crossing a park on a snowy evening? Emerson takes delight in all the different moods of nature.
- 12. “from Nature,” p.244 Questions # 4 • What scenes in nature does Emerson describe? He describes looking at stars, reveling in a horizon, walking in winter snow in town, and recapturing youth in fields and wooded wilderness. • What effect does being in nature have on Emerson? In nature he feels young and alive. • What conclusions does he draw from this? Nature can make one “part or parcel of God.”
- 13. “from Nature,” p.244 Questions # 5 • In your opinion, what does Emerson mean when he states, “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit”? He means that moods affect the way that people perceive nature. • Do you agree with him? Explain.