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MUBASHAR ALTAF
GIFT UNIVERSITY (12142001)
SALMAN RAFIQUE
06-FEBRUARY 2014.

THE CONCEPT OF NATURE: A COMPARISON BETWEEN EMERSON AND

In the 19th century, romanticism prevailed as the literary mainstream throughout the
European continent. William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was one of the pioneers in the
romanticist movement. As a great poet of nature, he wrote many famous poems to
express his love for nature, one of which is I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. In the
narrative poem, the poet successfully compared his loneliness with the happy and vital
daffodils. The daffodils, the symbol of the nature, bring great joy and relief to the
speaker.

For oft, when on my couch I lie,

So Wordsworths conception of nature is that nature has a lot to do with man, it can
not only refresh ones soul and fill one with happiness, but it can also be reduced into a
beautiful memory which will comfort ones heart when in solitude.
In 1832 Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American Unitarian minister, left
the ministry for Europe to pursue a career in writing and public speaking. There he
acquainted Wordsworth and got influenced by him. When he returned to New England,
he accomplished his masterpiece Nature, in which he speaks loud his love for nature and
explicates his philosophical ideas that earned him the reputation as Transcendentalisms
most seminal force. However, Emerson did not just imitate Wordsworth or any other
European romanticists minds; rather, his conception of nature is a different and more
complex one, Emerson holds that man and nature all come from the same power. So
philosophically, this shows Emersons transcendentalism is a kind of idealist monism.
And his NATURE not only includes the common nature, but also includes mans body.
So Emersons conception of nature has double meaning, one is philosophical, the other
common. After further exploration, we can find that Wordsworths conception of nature
originates from his passive attitude toward life, while Emersons owes to German
philosophy and his strong individualism.
On July 14,1789, the Parisian people stormed the Bastille, which marked the
outbreak of the French Revolution. Before long its great influence swept the whole
European continent. In England all social contradictions sharpened in the meantime.
Workers, peasants, and indeed all people of the lower classes as well as the progressive
intellectuals hailed the French Revolution and its principle liberty, equality and fraternity.

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In company with the political movement in progress, a new trend also arose in the literary
world, namely, romanticism. It prevailed in England during the period 1798-1832. In
1798, Lyrical Ballads, with only about ten thousand words, came out as the manifesto to
the English Romanticism, marking a new era in English literature. And its authors,
William Wordsworth and his confidant Samuel T. Coleridge (1772-1834) became widely
known as the Lake Poets. In the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth set forth
his principles of poetry, which reads all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of
powerful feeling. This forms a contrast to the classicism that made reason, order and the
old, classical traditions the criteria in its poetical creations. Wordsworth holds that firstly
the contents of a poem should focus on common country life and the beauty of nature,
while the diction of a poem should be plain and vivid with the application of lower-class
persons daily language. The two main principles posed a strong challenge to the upperclass only Neo-classicism and quickly went popular.
In the eighteenth century poems were supposed to serve the upper class, and the
theme usually had something to do with the upper-class life. In contrast, romanticism
gave much attention to the nature. As a great poet of nature, he was the first to find words
for the most elementary sensations of man face to face with natural phenomena. These
sensations are universal and old, but once expressed in his poetry, become charmingly
beautiful and new. His deep love for nature runs through such short lyrics as I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud:
No doubt, the European romanticism had a wide impact even beyond the Atlantic
Ocean. Romanticism was extremely influential in a rising America as America had
always had a strong spiritual tradition and romanticism was very compatible with

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American spiritual heritage and its ideas of democracy and equality. Ralph Waldo
Emerson, one of the major writers of the mid-19thcentury in America, one of the most
stimulating American minds was greatly influenced by the Westward Movement. In 1832
he resigned from his pulpit, moved to nearby Concord, and then spent the next few years
studying and traveling extensively in Europe. During his visit there, he acquainted ,
Coleridge, Carlyle, and Wordsworth, though he realized that not one of them was a mind
of the very first class, they nevertheless had comforted and confirmed him in his
convictions. Here it is interesting to mention the relationship between Wordsworth and
Emerson. At Rydal Mount Emerson paid his respect to Wordsworth, and was not
offended by the old poets egotisms. Having reached Liverpool, he confided to his
journal his gratitude to the great God who had led him in safety and pleasure through
this European scene this last schoolroom in which He had pleased to instruct him. He
felt that he would be able to judge more justly, less timidly, of wise men for
evermore. And after visiting a Paris botanical exhibition, Emerson resolved to be, as he
himself termed it, a naturalist. Then in 1836 back in America, Emerson published his
masterpiece Nature. From his description about nature, we can find some resemblance
with Wordsworths conception of nature, which shows an influence of the great English
naturalist:

The western clouds divided and subdivided themselves into pink flakes
modulated with tints of unspeakable softness; and the air had so much life
and sweetness, that it was a pain to come within doors. (Nature)

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It shows Emerson, the poets love of nature. Nature here has the same function of
comforting ones feelings and refreshing ones soul as seen in Wordsworth. But Emerson
was not only a naturalist, as he called himself, but more importantly, he was a
transcendentalist. Furthermore, they also differ in their conceptions of nature. Then what
exactly is the difference between them? To answer this question, lets take Emersons
Nature as an example to illustrate this point.
Emerson used the metaphor of seal and print to illustrate the relation between
nature and the individual, that nature is symbolic of mans mind, or in his own words
nature always wears the colors of the spirit. (Nature) Such a conception of nature is
apparently different from the one of Wordsworths. The latters beauty of nature which
is seen and felt as beauty, in Emersons opinion, is the least part which he continues
that the shows of day, the dewy morning, the rainbow, mountains, orchards in blossoms,
stars, moonlight, shadows in still water, and the like, if too eagerly hunted, become shows
merely, and mock us with their unreality.(Nature) And a high and divine beauty lies in
the combination with the human will. In Chapter IV Language of Nature, Emerson stated
clearly that, Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact. Every appearance in
nature corresponds to some state of the mind, and that state of mind can only be
described by presenting that natural appearance as its picture. In Chapter
VII Spirit of Nature, Emerson stated that, It (nature) is the organ through which the
universal spirit speaks to individual, and strives to lead back the individual to it. It means
only by combining nature with mans mind can nature has some significance, and if
without, nature is lifeless and valueless. Therefore, the beauty of nature derives from the
beauty of the mind, which transcends peoples limits of senses but rely on instinct to

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realize. And the reason why man owns such an instinct is that within every man exists the
over-soul, that every man is divine, and can converse with God directly. So the over-soul
functions as a ministry through which man can recognize the beauty of nature. Stating
this point, Emerson also used the device of metaphor:

that spirit, that is, the Supreme Being, does not build up nature around us, but
puts it forth through us, as the life of the tree puts forth new branches and
leaves through the pores of the old.(Chapter VII Spirit of Nature)

Now we have connected the current topic back with Emersons philosophical
conception of nature. In fact, it is true that there is a rational logic between these two
conceptions. According to the first conception, the universe is a whole ONE, with matter
and spirit both from the same spiritual origin. Then it is rational for us to infer that the
common nature and human being also should be in a harmonious ONE, namely, his
idealist monism calls for a unity of man and nature.
Daffodils are beautiful because the nature itself is vital and pleasant. Wordsworth has
a deep love for nature, and worship nature as the origin of inspiration. To Emerson, the
beauty of nature is not coming from its inside, or not owing to its own elements, rather,
originates from the beauty of mans mind. This is Emersons common conception of
nature I have dealt with just now.
To conclude, Wordsworths conception of nature has its root in the poets passive
attitude toward life; and he was the believer of pantheism while Emersons nature
has double layers of meaning the philosophical NATURE and the common nature,

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behind which we can see the influence of German philosophy and a strong sense of
individualism and he was the believer of monotheism. Although they have different
opinion of nature, it cannot prevent them from being both great poets. And their
works will always enlighten our mind and refresh our soul.

Works cited.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Collected Works of Ralph
Waldo Emerson) Paperbac Publisher: Belknap Press (May 2, 1987 print.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Selected essays and poems, famous publishers, Lahore.
(2012).print.
Wordsworth William. Selected Poetry of William Wordsworth (Modern Library Classics)
Publisher: Modern Library (February 12, 2002) print.