Comparing Nature And Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature existed before man, yet wilderness still creates quite the quandary. Constantly personified, described through grassy majestic imagery, and eluded to all literature, nature remains a source of inspiration for writing and story. Yet through the centuries, nature has remained timeless. While Alexander Pope’s poem Nature and Art and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem The Snow Storm revolve around different aspects of nature, the poems refer to “her” will, force, and art as concepts beyond human comprehension, suggesting nature is an artwork that illuminates human truths and alleviates the struggles of life. Nature has always been an artwork. Existing prior to mankind, the environments of the world have shaped its people and their cultures. Humanity

Never has anything been so beautiful, cruel, and enigmatic as the Earth. Humanity as existed for several millions years, yet is still so perplexed by nature. When immersed, nature proposes answers to the harshest of realities and raises the dampest of spirits. Similar to Mr. Alexander Pope, Ralph Waldo Emerson immersed himself in nature, and came to similar conclusions. In Emerson’s poem The Snow Storm, the speaker addresses the storm as being whose “wild work so fanciful, so savage” (Emerson) Their life time periods may have been separated by nearly 100 years, but their messages in their poetry are like minded. The speaker in The Snow Storm personifies storm as an entity that is “myriad-handed” and “leaves, when the sun appears, astonished art.” (Emerson) Even suggesting that nature does not wish her secrets to be know, so she makes people bundle in warm houses, so they cannot witness magic. The speaker awakes from the storm to enjoy the “frolic architecture” (Emerson) created by the artist the night prior, quickly forgetting the long harsh winter. In both situations, the poets refer to their surrounding as visual artwork for humanity. Mankind tends to believe they know best, especially when suffering through the cruelties of nature that are not understood. When given the end result of magnificence and beauty, the pain is worthwhile. Through these depictions of nature, the poets show that nature is more than just the environment, but

Rather than strike humanity with tornados, tsunamis, and earthquakes, nature has allowed man to lvie and thrive in the greater picture of the world. The earth around is the art, mankind is merely in the background. The complexities of nature will never be understood, but are rather something to be appreciated. Through the nature poems Nature and Art and The Snow Storm, Alexander Pope’s and Ralph Waldo Emerson show the readers these depictions of nature through different scenarios and seasons, yet refer to nature as a person whose force, will, and artwork characterize earth and are beyond human comprehension, suggesting nature is an art that alleviates the misfortunes of life and illuminates human