Thoreau Ice In The Cave Analysis

1) The elements of nature : What is described ? What are the changes that appear in nature ? At the beginning of the chapter, the opening of the pond is described. Thoreau explains how the pond goes from being frozen to being open. He does it very scientifically, giving the precise temperatures that he measured up for days. He describes the ice in detail, from its thinckness to the sound it makes when it opens.
The main change appearing in Walden is the coming in of the Spring. That is what Thoreau came to see in the first place. From l.63 “The ice in the pond” to l.75 “before it disappeared entirely”, Thoreau describes all the changes in nature that came with the beginning of spring.

2) Literary devices used by Thoreau and their meanings.

They are everywhere. Thoreau takes the time to describe the different sounds made by the ice, at different moments of the day. To me, it looks like sounds are giving a rhythm to this chapter. They usually represent precise moments of the day, or of the year. The importance of the sounds is also shown when Thoreau uses onomatopoeia because he wants to be the as accurate as possible when describing sounds. “ olit, olit, olit,—chip, chip, chip, che char,—che wiss, wiss, wiss” l.249-50. He also details the sounds of different animals such as squirrels and species of

First, to Metamorphoses, a long poem by Ovide l.285-286 “Eurus ad Auroram, Nabathaeaque regna recessit, Persidaque, et radiis juga subdita matutinis.” which he then translates. Another reference is made to Ovid with “the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age”
Quotation from Varro, De Re Rustica, 2.2.14 which is a book about farming and country life gathering texts written during the Antiquity “et primitus oritur herba imbribus primoribus evocata,” l.234-235.
There are many references to the Bible “the age of Methuselah” l.90.

5) Tone of the text.
The text looks like a scientific essay. Indeed, Thoreau gives precise numbers and facts that he observed. For example, from l,76 tol.79 “In 1845 Walden was first completely open on the 1st of April; in ‘46, the 25th of March; in ‘47, the 8th of April; in ‘51, the 28th of March; in ‘52, the 18th of April; in ‘53, the 23d of March; in ‘54, about the 7th of April.”,Thoreau noted for each year he was in Walden when the pond was completely open for the first time.
When he makes descriptions of the nature, and especially of animals, he uses a latin vocabulary “leuciscus” l.258 (a species of fish), “Turdus migratorius” ( a species of bird).

6) According to Thoreau, what is life