Comparing Nature In Emerson And Henry David Thoreau

Excerpts from nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1849), a text in which Ralph Waldo Emerson talks about the relationship of humanity with nature; most importantly understanding the word “Nature”. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Born in 1803 in Boston, being a Unitarian Minister, he embraced all the four main ideas of Unitarianism. He lived and wrote during the days of Westward expansion, a religious sudden change, domestic and political change. His generation and him grew up during the war of 1812. This lead them to develop a new patriotism when Boston was in fear of British invasion. Emerson’s writing reflects the nature struggle to develop an American identity throughout this time and this is why it was considered very “Unique”. By mid

If we go back ay back in history we notice that language was image based and composed of symbol. Unfortunately today language does not represent anymore our simple, “down to earth” desires but is mostly concentrated more on our secondary “artificial” desires. Emerson’s main idea is based on the fact that humans need to acquire a new, more educated way to see the world, observe the world with new eyes a wider perspective. What we see everyday should never be taken for granted. Emerson’s introduction ends by an abstract definition of “what is Nature”. What is Nature? For Emerson, nature is everything that is external to ourselves, all that is “not me” this includes our own bodies. For him the human/nature relationship is revolutionary, he thought that humanity was separated from nature that nature is only a mere reflection of humans, and that few of us see the true nature, what nature really looks like. We all tend to see nature how we like to see it. That’s why every single one of us sees nature in a different way. Emerson says, that in order for us, humans to see nature for what it truly is, we need to put on our “transparent eye ball” that was born with everyone of us, and is just lost somewhere in