A Commentary on Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Nature"

The fields, forests, and beaches of Oregon were my first love. Thus, Oregon will always hold a special piece of my heart. Though I don't remember much of my childhood, my most distinct memories are of nature. I remember sprinting across the scrappy grass in my cousin's backyard to get to their wild little creek. We'd walk across its pebbly shores and wade upstream, searching for crawdads to catch or places to build tiny rocky islands.

My cousins and I also devoted much of our childhood to the beach. We'd spend hours in the dunes, collecting sun-bleached driftwood to turn into houses and uprooting wild roses to plant on our beachy doorsteps. The coastline was our endless race track. We'd run up and down it, again and again; never tiring until our sandy towheads hit the pillows. And cousin Jamie would always wisely say, "Never turn your back on the ocean" but we still played countless games of tag with the teasing waves of the playful Pacific.

The beautiful scenes of Oregon spin in an endless dance about my mind. When I close my eyes, I see blushing violet foxgloves and shadowed forests filled with secrets. I remember golden hayfields, talkative streams, and silver-sparkling waves. I smell the sharp scent of campfire. I hear the giggles of cousins, and I feel the sharp burn of hot sand on my soles.

These memories are poignant, impactful, and very emotionally-charged. Whenever I go back to the places of my childhood, I'm flooded with memories and feelings. But it's not just these special locations. There is other nature that speaks to me.

There's something captivating, time-stopping, and soul-quenching about nature and Ralph Waldo Emerson describes nature's effects perfectly. His wording is sharp and exact; each sentence further pinpoints and explains the deep and powerful magic of nature. While Emerson accurately describes many pictures and effects of nature, I will only focus on a few. I will begin with the entrancing effects of nature:

"At the gates of the forest, the surprised man of the world is forced to leave his city estimates of great and small, wise and foolish. The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes into these precincts. Here is sanctity... and reality which discredits our heroes. Here we find nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her." Immediately upon our entrance into the wilderness, we abandon all cumbersome and unnecessary burdens. With our newfound freedom, we find true sanctity and embrace an enhanced, clear form of reality.

Mankind cannot be blamed for its desire to leave society and surrender to nature. For

"How willingly we would escape... the sophistication and second thought, and suffer nature to entrance us...Here no history, or church, or state, is interpolated on the divine sky and the immortal year. How easily we might walk onward into the opening landscape, absorbed by new pictures, and by thoughts fast succeeding each other, until by degrees the recollection of home was crowded out of mind, all memory obliterated by the tyranny of the present, and we were led in triumph by nature." In nature, there is no need for manmade worries, second thoughts, or responsibilities. Thus, with refreshing clarity, we dive freely into the "divine sky and the immortal year". We wander in awe and drink deeply of our surroundings--perfectly content, living in the moment.

Emerson further explains nature's unusual ability to engage, clear, and calm our minds by stating: "Nature is the incarnation of a thought, and turns to a thought, again, as ice becomes water and gas. The world is mind precipitated, and the volatile essence is forever escaping again into the state of free thought. Hence the virtue and pungency of the influence on the mind, of natural objects." By this definition, nature is a well-developed mind: always concocting new ideas and recycling the old. Nature's lack of "sophistication and second thought" combined with its soothing sights allows for constant cognitive transformation. It brushes aside harmful thoughts and toxic feelings and creates a safe place for human hearts to peacefully ponder upon life. When we cannot find solace within our mind or society, nature provides us with access to a constant and calming flow of cognition.

I always feel incredibly aware of myself while in nature. Nature's "precipitated mind" always provides me with the clarity to calmly look at my past, present, and future. As "all memor[ies] [are] obliterated by the tyranny of the present", I find myself clearheaded enough to look at my life with immense perspective. Thus, I often have many epiphanies while in nature. After shedding outward burdens, I focus on my inward feelings and identity. I glance at my younger teenage self and remember the person she was. I examine my current struggles and frustrations, and finally, I look to the future. The face of my future self is blurred but it hints at goals and growth that I hope to accomplish and experience.

Returning to his original point, Emerson beautifully describes several more scenes in nature. He states: "It seems as if the day was not wholly profane, in which we have given heed to some natural object. The fall of snowflakes in a still air, preserving to each crystal its perfect form; the blowing of sleet over a wide sheet of water, and over plains, the waving rye-field, the mimic waving of acres of houstonia, whose innumerable florets whiten and ripple before the eye; the reflections of trees and flowers in glassy lakes; the musical steaming odorous south wind, which converts all trees to windharps; the crackling and spurting of hemlock in the flames; or of pine logs, which yield glory to the walls and faces in the sitting-room-- these are the music and pictures of the most ancient religion." Emerson's imagery is potent and relatable. I've spent many a cozy wintry day inside, staring at the fierce blizzarding sky. We all can remember the haunting sound of wind racing through the trees, and feel the heat of a blazing campfire on our cheeks. It is in these powerful, shared experiences that we feel the strong, beating heart of nature. In these moments, we see how alive, wild, and free it is. In these moments, we experience the "music and pictures of the most ancient religion".

I think Emerson's comparison between nature and religion has rhetorical significance. He seems to be claiming that certain moments in nature are the physical expressions or evidence of something inexplicable yet distinct. Calling nature an "ancient religion" allows readers to associate the intangible yet strong feelings they experience in nature with spiritual experience. Just as spiritual events are sometimes hard to explain, so are the feelings we experience in nature. However, in both situations, the individual often receives impressions or feelings that are impactful and undeniable. Thus, Emerson compares religion and nature to highlight the impact, power, and value of nature.

But nature is more than a deep-rooted religion. It is an entirely new realm! Untouched and full of perfection, this new world is unmistakable and unforgettable. Emerson describes the immediate effects of nature: "With one stroke of the paddle, I leave the village politics and personalities, yes, and the world of villages and personalities behind, and pass into a delicate realm of sunset and moonlight, too bright almost for spotted man to enter without noviciate and probation...We dip our hands in this painted element: our eyes are bathed in these lights and forms. A holiday, a villeggiatura, a royal revel, the proudest, most heart-rejoicing festival that valor and beauty, power and taste, ever decked and enjoyed, establishes itself on the instant. These sunset clouds, these delicately emerging stars, with their private and ineffable glances, signify it and proffer it. I am taught the poorness of our invention, the ugliness of towns and palaces. Art and luxury have early learned that they must work as enchantment and sequel to this original beauty. I am over-instructed for my return. Henceforth I shall be hard to please. I cannot go back to toys, I am grown expensive and sophisticated." After one paddle into its realm, nature engulfs you. Though a fresh member of its society, you quickly witness the power of nature and recognize the "ugliness of towns". Instantly, the "most heart-rejoicing festival that valor and beauty, power and taste, ever decked and enjoyed, establishes itself". Through "sunset clouds", "delicately emerging stars", and other regal subjects of the heavens, nature further asserts its perfection and beauty.

It is in these starlight palaces and sacred forests that I find rest, clarity, and inspiration. The kingdom of nature is transformative, thought-provoking, and life-changing. We should all make the necessary sacrifices to climb its hillsides and enjoy its vast horizon. May we learn to leave behind the "village politics and personalities" and enter the "delicate realm of sunset and moonlight", beauty and power, hope and healing!

Below is a collage of pictures from Oregon. They're not professionally taken but many of them contain scenery or colors/moods that remind me of (or are from) my childhood.