Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Nature” was released in 1836 by James Munroe and Company. In his paper, Emerson laid the groundwork for transcendentalism, a religious system that promotes a non-traditional view of nature. Transcendentalism holds that nature is infused with the supernatural, or God and that studying nature may reveal the truth. Emerson separates nature into four uses in the essay: beauty, discipline, language, and commodity. These divisions determine how people utilize nature to meet their basic requirements, satisfy their desire for pleasure, communicate with one another, and comprehend the universe. As a result, the described concepts are connected, apparently creating a system of meanings and signs.
Spirituality is a prominent subject in Emerson’s essay, which comprises the set of complex ideas described above; it represents how the ideas of fundamental nature aspects develop and interact with each other. The writer aimed to teach his readers that the holy is something visible; this is described as transcendentalism, where a person senses a different God and a body that becomes one with their environment. The author demonstrates transcendentalism by stating, “From the earth, as a shore, I look out into that silent sea” (Emerson 13). Furthermore, he concludes: “The active enchantment reaches my dust, and I dilate and conspire with the morning wind,” thus claiming that people and wind are the same (Emerson 13). Emerson regarded the environment as the “Universal Being,” demonstrating his attitude that the natural world has a spiritual quality (Emerson 8). Moreover, these teachings strongly represent the characteristics of Americans during the Great Depression, the inner struggle to identify nature and the meaning of life: “What is matter? Whence is it? And Whereto?” (Emerson 59). In conclusion, everything is moral and spiritual; subsequently, there must be harmony between humans and nature, following the author’s logic.
Work Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. Amazon Books, 2020.