"Nature" is what we see--
The Hill--the Afternoon--
Squirrel--Eclipse--the Bumble bee--
Nay--Nature is Heaven--
Nature is what we hear--
The Bobolink--the Sea--
Thunder--the Cricket--
Nay--Nature is Harmony--
Nature is what we know--
Yet have no art to say--
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity
Dickinson mentions that nature is made up of the things one can see. Then, she changes her mind and says that nature is more than just what can be seen. Nature is heaven, and its beauty reaches beyond plain sight. Dickinson claims that nature is made of the things that one can hear. She then realizes that nature is much more than the individual sounds. Nature is a harmonious symphony that is greater than the sum of its parts. Dickinson realizes that people can't truly describe nature. Not even the wisest person can recreate nature, even though it's such a simple thing. Nature is personified as a "her" at the end of the poem because, like a women, it becomes more beautiful once it is fully understood. This poem helps me to see nature in a different way. If I look out of a window, I just see trees and birds. If I really took myself away from society, I could feel the forest. Nature can be seen as a backdrop, or it could be fully experienced as its own world.
Perhaps people feel the need to put nature into words because they have an inner drive to possess things and make them their own. Or maybe people think defining nature brings them closer to it.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting observation Elisabeth. The idea of people owning the earth is a strange one. We didn't make it, so how is it ours?
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ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to imply that people own the earth. Excuse my vague first comment! I was thinking more along the lines of people describing nature in an original way. Forming a unique perspective of nature is a way to express individuality and I think that's the goal of many people. Now that I'm rereading the poem my comment seems like a tangent haha.
ReplyDeleteElisabeth, I wasn't trying to say that owning the earth was your idea. I think I may have worded my comment inadequately. When you said that some people want to possess things, I was thinking about how strange it is that people in general view land as something that can be solely theirs. I was just thinking off on a tangent and I wasn't accusing you of anything. I'm sorry if it seemed that way. You weren't talking about physically owning nature anyway, so I guess I misunderstood you at first.
ReplyDeletei like the way Dickinson says that nature in all its simplicity is still unexplainable by humans.
ReplyDeleteNo problem! With great interpretations, there comes great responsibility. Hopefully I'm not plagiarizing Spiderman. Yeah it is strange that people have claimed the earth as their own. But I can't imagine it differently - I feel like any alternatives would be chaotic. I think people forget that none of the earth really belongs to them because forgetting works to their advantage.
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