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Henry David Thoreau Transcendentalism

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A Lake on the Way to the Glacier Thinkers of the period of transcendentalism believed that the only way to find wisdom was to be exposed to nature. Henry David Thoreau, who was one of the major exponents of this period, spent two years on Walden Pond, reflecting and writing his major work “Walden”, but if he had the opportunity to visit Alaska, he would have spent all his life on the last frontier and also he would have wrote a vast amount of works based on it. Alaska has an abundance of breathtaking landscapes and natural wonders, among them the island of Kodiak, Mount Denali or the Flattop , however; I feel that the greatest examples of that beauty are not reflected on those monumental ecosystems. They are demonstrated in the small …show more content…

Usually, when one goes to visit a beach or any other water body, it is easy to discern between what is water and what is land. This lake was different, the surface of the water seemed just as an extension of the land. It emanated its cold nature from the distance, relieving the natural heat of the summer without even having to enter on its magical waters. The most compelling aspect of that body of water was that it reflected the world just as a mirror, creating the illusion that it was possible to cross into another world just as if we lived inside a Lewis Caroll novel. Everything reflected on it was even more magnificent, the sun was brighter, the mountains were taller, the clouds were puffier and the leaves were greener. I decided to enjoy the place sitting in a stone close to the water, taking pictures and contemplating the natural spectacle. Suddenly, in my state of observation I felt that, again in the words of Neruda, my eyes flew away and merged with the stable peace of the place. It was in this state of concentration that I began to think that probably the plethora of trees that surrounded the lake were also compelled with the beauty of the lake and stood there watching and protecting it just as Heimdallr protects the gate of Asgard in the Norse

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