FROM THE ARCHIVE: INFLUENCE (2014)
Nature is the most influential piece of literature within the confines of the hive. The inference is drawn from the fact that the best things are those one can maximally relate to and agree with. In order to fully corroborate the prefatory note of this article, it is important to briefly scrutinize the work's strident impact.
Nature is the most influential piece of literature within the confines of the hive. The inference is drawn from the fact that the best things are those one can maximally relate to and agree with. In order to fully corroborate the prefatory note of this article, it is important to briefly scrutinize the work's strident impact.
Nature is a non-fiction philosophical essay from 1836, the fundamental cornerstone of the transcendentalist movement and the first work written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is divided into an introduction and eight chapters: Nature, Commodity, Beauty, Language, Discipline, Idealism, Spirit, and Prospects in chronological order. Each chapter reflects on weaknesses of human being and serves as a guide to living a meaningful, independent life.
Emerson laments the fact that the world and all mankind tend to be misguidedly retrospective, tradition oriented and conservative. He finds this approach frivolous and demands a change by becoming an independent, self-reliant human being. He emphasizes the importance of living in the present and directly experiencing what nature has to offer.
Nature is a pivotal and essential work that led to the foundation of Transcendentalism, a literary, political, religious, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century. (FINSETH 1995)
In comparison with Henry David Thoreau's Walden, another significant work of the Trascendentalist movement, Emerson's Nature stresses more nature's philosophical aspect instead of nature itself. Walden is mostly about appreciation of nature's tangible and corporeal benefits. Nature, on the other hand, elevates an insight into human nature. Both works value personal and character traits such as self-sufficiency, independence, and solitude. They both focus on one goal: Immersing oneself into nature.
The Prelude, a philosophical conversation poem by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth, is also very similar to Emerson's Nature. The Prelude as well as Nature celebrates the human mind and both works share its strong abstract aspect.
As opposed to Nature, a man is not outright a part of nature. He admires and appreciates nature, but his whole relation to it is based on distance. From Emerson's point of view, man harmonizes with nature and is an integral part of it. (FINSETH 1995)
Drawing on Platonic philosophy and the leading figures of the Neoplatonist movement (notably authors like Iamblichus, Plotinus, and Proclus), Emerson altered and created an ethics of self-improvement in his own image. Emerson was also to some extent influenced by European Romanticism, especially by major English Romantic poets like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and an Irish empirical idealist George Berkeley. Equally important for his work were German Romantic authors as well as Hindu philosophers. It is worth mentioning that Emerson was an avid reader of Indian literature and a strong sympathizer of the philosophical teachings of Confucius. (ALCOTT 1882)
Emerson's Nature was also partly influenced by German philosophy and Biblical criticism, which both disputed supernatural and divine origins of the bible. (PACKER 2007)
Considered as the heart and soul of the American Transcendental movement and as a champion of individualism, Emerson served as an inspiration for not only his fellow trascendentalists including Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman, but he also influenced a highly praised and illustrious German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Emersonian themes as power, fate, and the critique of Christianity can be found in Nietzsche's widely recognized works such as Übermensch or Thus Spoke Zarathustra. (ALCOTT 1882)
The spiritual role of nature's beauty and its effect on a human individual might be the finest and the most intriguing aspect that needs to be highlighted. By nature's beauty the author means everything that surrounds an individual and his mind, even his own appearance. According to Emerson's words, a man can fully understand the beauty of nature only when he is in his solitude and that society is the biggest distraction in individual development of man: "A man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society." (EMERSON 2009) Emerson is of the view that we take nature for granted, which he illustrates with an example with the stars: "The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccesible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence." (EMERSON 2009) We take them for granted even though they are inaccesible and out of reach for us.
We may not neccesarilly be able to touch nature but we do not have to be in awe of it, we just need to strive to get a grasp of it. Due to the impact and strong influence of society, we are not able to absorb nature at full blast. In order to create a bond with nature and to be properly attached to it, it is crucial to look at it as a child. Because it is only a child that can seize the moment rather than being content with what he is accustomed to.
In Beauty, the third chapter of Nature, Emerson generally demonstrates the positive impact of nature on the human body and mind. He believes that nature provides physical and mental enrichment, and that its effects are outright conducive to health and well-being: “To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone. The tradesman, the attorney comes out of the din and craft of the street and sees the sky and the woods, and is a man again. In their eternal calm, he finds himself.” (EMERSON 2009)
Emerson concisely explains that this enchantment is caused by man's perception of time and environment rather than by nature's tangibles. "But in other hours, Nature satisfies by its loveliness, and without any mixure of corporeal benefit. I see the spectacle of morning from the hill-top over against my house, from day-break to sun-rise, with emotions only an angel might share." (EMERSON 2009)
Every moment in life is unique and so is nature. A man's inspiration is unlimited due to nature's diversity and infinity. Each moment has its own distinction and rarity which ultimately influences the mind of human being mentally, physically and spiritually. "To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again." (EMERSON 2009)
Emerson celebrates any act of nature with great excitement and appreciation. He interpretes each and every single process of nature as a perpetual intervention of divine power. "Beauty is the mark Gods sets upon virtue. Every natural action is graceful." or "A man is a god in ruins." (EMERSON 2009)
If I was polled to pick a single historic period or a movement, I would probably choose Transcendentalism. Its philosophical thoughts correspond and resonate with my beliefs and convictions to a degree where others just fail to serve this purpose. It is hard to determine Nature's literary significance and importance because of the work's philosophical magnitude. But I believe that the vast majority of Emerson's thoughts orchestrated in Nature are current and relevant even nowadays. I opted for Emerson's Nature for these following reasons: Given the fact that Emerson happened to be the unanimous leading figure of Transcendentalism and his essay Nature is still notoriously considered as the center of the movement, my decision making process was not really a drawn-out one. Emerson's profound fervor and vigour for nature are beyond comprehension. His writing style is often depicted as too complex and scarcely apprehensible, albeit highly sophisticated.
I find Emerson's compelling reasoning and philosophical thinking in this work as very enchanting, especially his celebrating of nature's spiritual gifts. I can easily relate to Emerson's thoughts and his close relation to nature. Despite the fact that the Transcendental movement was comprised solely by Emerson at the time prior to Nature's public release, this essay is truly the magnum opus and arguably the most important work of the entire Transcendentalist movement.
References:
FINSETH, Ian Frederick. Liquid Fire Within Me:
Language, Self and Society in Transcendentalism and Early Evangelicalism,
1820-1860, 1995
[cit. 2014-01-06]. URL:
<http://thoreau.eserver.org/amertran.html>.
ALCOTT, Amos Bronson, Ralph Waldo Emerson: An Estimate of His
Character and Genius: In Prose and in Verse, 1882 [cit. 2014-01-06].
PACKER, Barbara L. (2007). The Transcendentalists[cit.
2014-01-06].
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Project Gutenberg - the first producer
of e-books, Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 2009 [cit. 2014-01-06].
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