Ice On The Walden Pond Analysis

During spring, the ice in the Walden Pond thaws and there is a celebration of the rebirth of nature as well as the spirit. Ice on the Walden Pond fascinates Henry David Thoreau a striking amount. Thoreau watches the breaking of the ice in great awe of the mystery and goes on to describe in towering depth the patterns of an early sign of impending spring that is the thawing of sand and clay which are flowing and often come before the leafy foliage that is yet to appear. This sand foliage is symbolic; it demonstrates that life is organic, and the earth is not merely an artifact symbolic of dead history. This is like drawing a parallel in living poetry, where human art and institutions are insignificant. Similar to spring, this essay expresses

He goes ahead to question the role played by traditions, revelations which have been written, and chronologies at a time like this. He makes a comparison of nature and the human body in both ways and says that “it is not the hand which is spreading the leaf of a palm with its veins and the lobes” (Spring 330). Thoreau uses a hand to tie human physical traits with leaves, as the word ‘palm’ can signify both a plant or a hand. Reoccurrence of ‘life’ in spring; which was ‘dead’ in winter, suggests immortality. In winter, Walden had disappeared but had re-emerged with vigor and intense endurance during this period of spring. Likewise, the narrator is also rejuvenated and he becomes elastic another time. Similarly, the thoughts of a man and ideations improve during the period of spring, alongside his willingness to forgive the mistakes of his fellows and forget about all of their shortcomings. Thoreau receives a chance to a ‘fresh start’, more like a second chance in life. Thoreau goes on to comment on the tonic nature of the wildness and adds that if it did not exist then life would have been stagnant. (Spring 330) He goes ahead to make remarks concerning our constant need to undergo exploration and have an explanation of our longing to discover the mysterious. Whichever approach is taken, it is not possible to get enough of Mother Nature. She happens to be the chief source for all

One such is the mention of Methuselah, a figure in the Old Testament and inference to the story of creation in Genesis Account of creation, in the correlation made by Thoreau concerning man to clay explain “[why] man is but a mass of thawing clay” (Spring 330). He makes references to God, the Creator; an example being when he was described to have a patent for a leaf or when Thoreau makes a description of the new spring life being a laboratory for God. In almost equal contrasting measure, Thoreau describes spring to be similar to ‘Cosmos being created from Chaos’ and realization made concerning the Golden Age--what a pagan, almost mythical comparison (Spring 335). This description is inferred Greek ancient belief: which explains that order was brought to the cosmos by the Gods hence creating a picture similar to the paradise described in Christianity- the Golden Age. Like in Genesis, at the beginning of time, every human in springtime is deemed as having magical infinite potential, like Adam and Eve before the fall. The references made have a symbolic meaning that is deep, however small and minimalistic, to cause rejuvenation of nature which is seen in this particular essay. It is incomparable to a mere change in climate. Rather than just bringing warmth to Walden Pond, springtime bears a breath-taking renewal of life as well which is a