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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
"There is a keen enjoyment in a mere animal existence."
In addition to their typical saying that reading takes one to noble atmosphere and newer realities, certain books demand prerequisite atmosphere to read them in the first place among other categories. I'd like to assert that most of the works of Thoreau belong to this category.
Lately I've become a bit sceptical with works of sheer romance showering platonic love for the deep woods, barbarous coasts and the remotest whereabouts. It strikes a bit similar to what Sartre wrote on the ways we can delude ourselves keeping reason on our side, here reason getting replaced by romanticism especially at the parts where Thoreau parted ways with the tradition of east west dichotomy and brought the wild west rhetoric and advent of new world, a romanticized colonial term, to feed the hunger inside of the people who bored themselves to death by civilization. With specific worldviews and value judgements, such sheer love affair for the wild could make a lot of chaos and would give you we-live-in-a-society vibes in the opposite sense.
On the positive side, Walking is lucid. Walking could make us humble despite the illusion of learning and knowledge that we think we have of living and dying. At the same time, Walking could take you to a world that never was. Nevertheless it makes you earn for such possible past to have existed so you could linger over it.
Came for the romanticism and stayed for the lucidity. And yes, just like Rousseau's.
Walking (1861) ~ Henry David Thoreau
In addition to their typical saying that reading takes one to noble atmosphere and newer realities, certain books demand prerequisite atmosphere to read them in the first place among other categories. I'd like to assert that most of the works of Thoreau belong to this category.
Lately I've become a bit sceptical with works of sheer romance showering platonic love for the deep woods, barbarous coasts and the remotest whereabouts. It strikes a bit similar to what Sartre wrote on the ways we can delude ourselves keeping reason on our side, here reason getting replaced by romanticism especially at the parts where Thoreau parted ways with the tradition of east west dichotomy and brought the wild west rhetoric and advent of new world, a romanticized colonial term, to feed the hunger inside of the people who bored themselves to death by civilization. With specific worldviews and value judgements, such sheer love affair for the wild could make a lot of chaos and would give you we-live-in-a-society vibes in the opposite sense.
On the positive side, Walking is lucid. Walking could make us humble despite the illusion of learning and knowledge that we think we have of living and dying. At the same time, Walking could take you to a world that never was. Nevertheless it makes you earn for such possible past to have existed so you could linger over it.
Came for the romanticism and stayed for the lucidity. And yes, just like Rousseau's.
Walking (1861) ~ Henry David Thoreau
The influence of European Romanticism on American Transcendentalism is difficult to overstate. The influence is so strong scholars often call American Transcendentalism “American Romanticism.” During this time, a central issue of American literature was its identity as a distinct, national American literature. Throughout “Walking,” Thoreau draws heavily on the influence of European Romanticism while balancing and arguing for the distinctiveness of an American literature.
Throughout “Walking,” Thoreau draws upon Wordsworth’s “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” directly. For example, Wordsworth points out the importance of rustic life and common living in the “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads,” saying that a primary focus in poetry is to “make the incidents of common life interesting by tracing in them… the primary laws of our nature” (935). Such a sentiment can be seen in “Walking:” “I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day… sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements” (409). Clearly, Thoreau’s idea of walking is one of those activities of the everyday life, and Thoreau describes the action of walking as allowing him to be free from ‘worldly engagements,’ and essentially, society. Thus, Thoreau heightens the value of common everyday walking to an essential part of living outside of society. In addition, Wordsworth notes the power of low and rustic life: “the essential passions of the heart… are less under restraint… because in that situation [in low and rustic life] our elementary feelings exist in a state of greater simplicity and consequence…” (935). “Walking” exhibits this focus on low and rustic life in two ways. First, its focus on farmers directly exemplifies the low and rustic life as the life of a farmer is more rustic than someone living in society. Thoreau makes this explicit, contrasting the blending of farmers into the landscape to the otherwise overbearing constraints of society on the landscape: “The farmers and their works are scarcely more obvious than woodchucks and their burrows. Man and his affairs, church and state and school, trade and commerce, and manufactures and agriculture even politics… I am pleased to see how little space they occupy in the landscape” (412). Also, by advocating walking to remove the stresses of society he exemplifies actually living out a rustic life rather than using it just as a rhetorical vehicle for the passions of the heart. In addition, Thoreau praises the rustic life to an even higher level than the Romantics by placing the men who live a rustic life in the position of a hero: “for the hero is commonly the simplest and obscurest of men” (421). Ideals and symbols from Wordsworth’s “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” permeate Thoreau’s essay “Walking.”
In addition, Thoreau and Wordsworth’s common belief in poetry belonging to the common language as opposed to a ‘higher’ realm of language evidences itself in “Walking.” As Wordsworth notes in “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads,” “The language too of these [rustic] men is adopted… because such men hourly communicate with the best objects from which the best part of language is originally derived” (935). In other words, Wordsworth recognizes the value of common language in adequately describing the nature of life in literature. Thoreau shares this sentiment, mentioning, “It is too late to be studying Hebrew; it is more important to understand even the slang of today” (420). Such a clear and consistent agreement on the value of everyday language over more scholarly language, a major tenant of Romanticism, suggests a clear influence of Romanticism on Thoreau’s essay “Walking.”
Further evidence of European Romanticism upon Thoreau’s “Walking” evidences itself when viewed with Thoreau’s representation of Romantic questions. Andrew Hubbell, in his essay comparing the treatment of nature between Byron and Wordsworth, points out the duality of staying in one place and traveling in Romantic Literature. Thoreau is able to merge these two features with his notion of walking. He is able to stay a part of the place in which he lives while simultaneously being a traveler: “Two or three hours’ walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. … There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life” (412). Thoreau takes the ideas of traveling and being a more permanent part of a place, and combines the best of both worlds. The fact that Thoreau is answering questions that are posed in Romantic literature further suggests the influence Romanticism has on Thoreau.
Another influence of Romanticism can be seen through the organic structure of “Walking.” Frederick Garber points out the dominance of organic persuasion over logical persuasion in European Romanticism. With the variety of purposes and points Thoreau makes throughout “Walking,” it is obvious Thoreau prefers a more organic approach to persuasion than an orderly and logical one. As an example of such organic persuasion in “Walking,” Thoreau often interrupts his prosaic exposition with poems without even citing the author. Such a break does not follow the logical progression of his prose, but is effective in getting the persuasion across in a more organic manner. As Scott Palmer, in his essay about the influence of “Walking,” points out in regards to his poem “The Old Marlborough Road,” which Thoreau inserted, “This rudeness of style, as with his prose, can be seen as a statement regarding the necessity to use uneven, organic forms when writing about nature” (120). Thoreau also advocates such a position for writing in general in “Walking:” “A truly good book is something as natural, and as unexpectedly and unaccountably fair and perfect, as a wild-flower...” (426) Thoreau advocating such a Romantic idea in writing further suggests Thoreau drew upon and espoused Romantic ideals throughout “Walking.”
Thoreau’s treatment of nature similarly manifests the influence of Romanticism on Thoreau. Thoreau understands nature much like the Romantics did: as a way to escape from the bounds of society and to be able to think clearly. More importantly, though, Thoreau sees nature as a vehicle for expressing truth through common experience. As Newman notes in his book about Thoreau and Transcendentalism, “Our Common Dwelling,” Thoreau believes “It is not just that poetry is the natural language of humanity, but more, that when people produce poetry, nature is working directly and immediately through them” (84). So, in addition to nature being the vehicle for the Romantic ideal of common language used in poetry, Thoreau also believes in the power of nature to aid in the Romantic notion of ‘emotion reflected in tranquility.’ Throughout “Walking,” Thoreau suggests walking enables him to “return to [his] senses” (411), rather than causing him to be distracted by society and out of his senses, suggesting he is able to produce this Romantically ideal tranquility while walking. Further, the love of nature and language is evident in his use of the West as a symbol for not just the future of the American Landscape, but also the wild. As he points out himself, “The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild” (421). While suggestions of the idea of Manifest Destiny and westward expansion come to mind as a reason for this symbolism during this time period, Glenn Deamer, in his essay “Thoreau: Walking Toward England,” points out “the dream is not inherent in the literal frontier,” (86) but rather Thoreau uses the West as a symbol solely for its rhetorical connection to the Wild rather than any recognition of its political or social value. Further evidence of Thoreau’s European Romantic love of nature can be seen in the symbolism he uses of tanned skin: “Tanned skin presents unmistakable physiological evidence of its communication with the natural, external world” (Harvery, 181). In other words, Thoreau uses tanned skin as a symbol for the connection of man with nature, because of the obvious cause of tan skin: time in the sun. His idealization of such a natural man further emphasizes the influence of European Romanticism.
Thoreau’s treatment of man to society also manifests the influence of Romanticism upon Thoreau’s “Walking.” The essay opens with the sentence “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil – to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society” (407). Clearly, Thoreau is placing the emphasis on man’s place not in society, but rather to Nature. The roots of such anti-societal sentiments can be seen in the philosophers of Europe around the Romantic era, such as Rousseau. For example, Rousseau’s famous statement in his “The Social Contract” is ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.’ While the focus of Rousseau in the rest of “The Social Contract” seems to be on man living inside of society, Thoreau takes this philosophy and focuses instead on living outside of society’s chains. As Duane Smith points out in his essay entitled “Romanticism in America: The Transcendentalists,” “If the German romantics saw isolation as the punishment imposed upon the man of genius… Thoreau saw it as a prize to be won after a long and hard struggle with that society which was prepared to do almost anything except leave one alone” (318). The statement Thoreau makes in “Walking:” “In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to Society” (411) suggests such a Romantic anti-societal viewpoint with an American individualistic spin. Another vital influence seen in European philosophical roots is that of the German writer Goethe. However, Thoreau rejects the work of Goethe as a complete influence on himself. As Kuhn points out in his book over Romanticism, “Thoreau’s verdict is clear: ‘Nature is hindered’ (327). Goethe’s artistic efforts are consequently incomplete” (125). Once again, the influence of Romanticism is clear, however, there are also some clear distinctions in Thoreau’s rejection of certain Romantic thought.
Such rejections of Romanticism can be best understood in the context of Thoreau’s hope in the emerging national American literature. Such an idea can be seen in Thoreau’s recognition of the influence of Wordsworth’s “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” on European Romanticism. Newman points out this recognition, stating, “Thoreau generalized from this understanding of Wordsworth’s cultural significance to develop his initial sense of the social and political functions of poetry and the poet” (86). Because of that influence, Thoreau sought to be an influential poet, like Wordsworth, in shaping the American nationalistic literature. Romantic understanding of the power of the poet further supports such a position. Newman states this by saying: “The poet -- a figure of secular authority... had the potential to lead the nation out of its interminable crisis...” (88). Essentially, Newman claims Thoreau’s position as a poet is part of his deep desire for an emerging national American Literature, and the roots of this desire lie in his appreciation of Wordsworth’s deep influence on Romanticism.
Such a desire for an American national literature fits with the general consensus of transcendentalists. Brown points out, “As the nation began to realize its potentialities and its worth, it became increasingly reluctant to accept its previous cultural dependence upon England” (1), and “It was in this period [early transcendentalism] that the first significant progress was made in the development of a national literature” (1). In other words, during the early days of American Transcendentalism, Transcendentalists understood American literature should be distinct from its European roots. In addition, Transcendentalists understood the influence of Romanticism could prevent a fully independent national American literature: “They simply had to disassociate themselves from what Emerson pungently called ‘the corpse-cold Unitarianism of Brattle Street and Harvard College’“ (Miller, 153). Clearly, Thoreau wrote “Walking” at a time when belief in an emerging national literature made sense. He wanted to liberate himself from being labeled merely as a European Romantic in America, yet he still drew upon Romantic ideology.
Evidences of such aspirations for an emerging national Literature can be seen in the prophetic and positive language used to describe the American West throughout “Walking:” “we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure” (“Walking,” 417). The specific mention of ‘the future’ in regards such a positive attitude of ‘enterprise and adventure’ suggests Thoreau’s belief in the future of America in creating a national literature. Garber notes Thoreau’s recognition of both the influence of Romanticism and the emerging national literature: “At many points in his writing Thoreau showed the problem of answering was not only his to work out but America’s as well.This former colony had to establish the sense and contours of its own Romanticism, which meant that it had to define an American version of nature and the self’s at-homeness within it” (43). In this quote, Garber essentially points out the Romantic ideal of nature and the self, and notes how the Transcendentalists shape this ideal into their own. Garber further notes Thoreau’s undergraduate essay, “Advantages and Disadvantages of Foreign Influence on American Literature,” and how it expresses such a sentiment of defining American literature inside of European Romanticism without being dominated by it: “We of New England are a peculiar people: we whistle, to be sure, our national tune; but the character of our literature is not yet established” (131). Thoreau continues on in “Advantages and Disadvantages” by noting American political independence from Britain, and suggests such an independence from Britain in literature would also be beneficial. The sentiment of Thoreau’s hope for an emerging national American literature is seen throughout “Walking.”
For example, Thoreau’s sense of nationalism, in addition to itself being a Romantic ideal, helps define his desire for an American literature. He is explicitly nationalistic in many parts of “Walking,” saying: “The species of large trees are much more numerous in North America… America is made for the man of the Old World” (“Walking,” 418) and “The heavens of America appear infinitely higher, the sky is bluer, the air is fresher, the cold is intenser… [etc.]” (419). Such a high praise of the American landscape is clearly representative of Thoreau’s nationalism. Thoreau then takes a strong case in denouncing his European influence and stating the inadequacies of European literature, saying phrases such as “It is hard for me to believe that I shall find fair landscapes or sufficient wildness and freedom behind the eastern horizon… I must walk toward Oregon, and not toward Europe” (416). In the first statement, Thoreau’s zealous belief in the American landscape suggests to him ‘the eastern horizon’ (symbolically, Europe) is simply inadequate in comparison to the experience he has had with the American landscape. In the second statement, he emphasizes his faith in the American landscape by explicitly stating his intention to ‘walk’ (symbolically, to allow himself to be inspired by) the American landscape, as opposed to the Europe landscape. He is even explicitly critical of English literature, saying: “English literature... breathes no quite fresh and, in this sense, wild strain. It is an essentially tame and civilized literature, reflecting Greece and Rome” (426). Such a criticism further suggests his dissatisfaction with European Romanticism as the primary defining factor in the emerging national American Literature. As Harvey points out in regards to Thoreau’s independent rhetoric in “Walking:” “to forget or decompose our European literary and historical sources is to ensure the survival and health of a new American identity” (185). After all, if American literature is too rooted in European literature, it can seem to be more of an extension to European literature rather than distinct from it. As Lorrie Smith notes in her essay over the influence of Romanticism in “Walking,” “indeed, he needs to declare his independence in order to enact his own original, American literary enterprise” (222). Clearly, Thoreau is distancing himself from and rejecting European Romanticism because of his hope for an independent American literature.
Thoreau’s rhetorical rejection of European Romanticism while simultaneously drawing upon its influence is itself also rooted in European Romanticism. Robert Langbaum notes in his book, “The Poetry of Experience,” such a tendency throughout Romanticism, saying, “the romanticists sees the past as different from the present and uses the past to explore the full extent in other words of his own modernity” (12). In other words, by recognizing and drawing upon the past, Romantics build upon their own unique present. Smith also notes this about Thoreau: “Though Thoreau implicitly critiques his antecedents... he also relies on their models to assert his own new place in the romantic tradition” (225). As already proven, Thoreau draws heavily upon Romanticism throughout “Walking.”
Despite Thoreau’s nationalistic rhetoric, which distances himself from Europe, Thoreau readily recognizes the influence of Romanticism on himself and on the emerging national American literature. He does this by saying: “We go eastward to realize history and study the works of art and literature, retracing the steps of the race; we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure” (“Walking,” 417). Thoreau fully recognizes the influence of literature and culture from Europe (the east) in the first half of the sentence. After the semicolon, however, Thoreau expresses his belief in the future of the American west, and symbolically, the future of the emerging national Literature. Perhaps the best summary of his sentiment towards the influence of European Romanticism is summed up in the Latin phrase he mentions: “Ex Oriente lux; ex Occidente FRUX. From the East light; from the West fruit” (419). Light is a source that nurtures a fruit to grow. However, fruit is an end unto itself, and a means for spreading more fruit. So it is with Thoreau’s hope for the emerging national American Literature. While Thoreau recognizes a clear influence of European Romanticism (the light), the new American literature is a worthwhile and independent product to itself (the fruit). While fruit cannot exist without the benefits of light, the existence of a fully matured fruit is independent of its nurturing light source. As Harvey interprets it: “Although light from the east is essential, the inspiration must never become more than a sustaining source, must never have its own coherent identity, lest it threaten the very life it nourishes” (195). As previous evidence already shows, in “Walking,” Thoreau understood and capitalized on his influence of Romanticism, however, he used it to further the emerging national American literature.
While Thoreau draws heavily upon this Romantic influence, Thoreau is unwilling to rest solely upon it because of his desire for a national American Literature. This desire is driven both by the recognition of a need for a national American literature, and Romantic ideology such as nationalism and individualism. Evidences of European Romanticism and Thoreau’s desire for a national American literature permeate his essay “Walking.”
Throughout “Walking,” Thoreau draws upon Wordsworth’s “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” directly. For example, Wordsworth points out the importance of rustic life and common living in the “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads,” saying that a primary focus in poetry is to “make the incidents of common life interesting by tracing in them… the primary laws of our nature” (935). Such a sentiment can be seen in “Walking:” “I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day… sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements” (409). Clearly, Thoreau’s idea of walking is one of those activities of the everyday life, and Thoreau describes the action of walking as allowing him to be free from ‘worldly engagements,’ and essentially, society. Thus, Thoreau heightens the value of common everyday walking to an essential part of living outside of society. In addition, Wordsworth notes the power of low and rustic life: “the essential passions of the heart… are less under restraint… because in that situation [in low and rustic life] our elementary feelings exist in a state of greater simplicity and consequence…” (935). “Walking” exhibits this focus on low and rustic life in two ways. First, its focus on farmers directly exemplifies the low and rustic life as the life of a farmer is more rustic than someone living in society. Thoreau makes this explicit, contrasting the blending of farmers into the landscape to the otherwise overbearing constraints of society on the landscape: “The farmers and their works are scarcely more obvious than woodchucks and their burrows. Man and his affairs, church and state and school, trade and commerce, and manufactures and agriculture even politics… I am pleased to see how little space they occupy in the landscape” (412). Also, by advocating walking to remove the stresses of society he exemplifies actually living out a rustic life rather than using it just as a rhetorical vehicle for the passions of the heart. In addition, Thoreau praises the rustic life to an even higher level than the Romantics by placing the men who live a rustic life in the position of a hero: “for the hero is commonly the simplest and obscurest of men” (421). Ideals and symbols from Wordsworth’s “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” permeate Thoreau’s essay “Walking.”
In addition, Thoreau and Wordsworth’s common belief in poetry belonging to the common language as opposed to a ‘higher’ realm of language evidences itself in “Walking.” As Wordsworth notes in “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads,” “The language too of these [rustic] men is adopted… because such men hourly communicate with the best objects from which the best part of language is originally derived” (935). In other words, Wordsworth recognizes the value of common language in adequately describing the nature of life in literature. Thoreau shares this sentiment, mentioning, “It is too late to be studying Hebrew; it is more important to understand even the slang of today” (420). Such a clear and consistent agreement on the value of everyday language over more scholarly language, a major tenant of Romanticism, suggests a clear influence of Romanticism on Thoreau’s essay “Walking.”
Further evidence of European Romanticism upon Thoreau’s “Walking” evidences itself when viewed with Thoreau’s representation of Romantic questions. Andrew Hubbell, in his essay comparing the treatment of nature between Byron and Wordsworth, points out the duality of staying in one place and traveling in Romantic Literature. Thoreau is able to merge these two features with his notion of walking. He is able to stay a part of the place in which he lives while simultaneously being a traveler: “Two or three hours’ walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. … There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life” (412). Thoreau takes the ideas of traveling and being a more permanent part of a place, and combines the best of both worlds. The fact that Thoreau is answering questions that are posed in Romantic literature further suggests the influence Romanticism has on Thoreau.
Another influence of Romanticism can be seen through the organic structure of “Walking.” Frederick Garber points out the dominance of organic persuasion over logical persuasion in European Romanticism. With the variety of purposes and points Thoreau makes throughout “Walking,” it is obvious Thoreau prefers a more organic approach to persuasion than an orderly and logical one. As an example of such organic persuasion in “Walking,” Thoreau often interrupts his prosaic exposition with poems without even citing the author. Such a break does not follow the logical progression of his prose, but is effective in getting the persuasion across in a more organic manner. As Scott Palmer, in his essay about the influence of “Walking,” points out in regards to his poem “The Old Marlborough Road,” which Thoreau inserted, “This rudeness of style, as with his prose, can be seen as a statement regarding the necessity to use uneven, organic forms when writing about nature” (120). Thoreau also advocates such a position for writing in general in “Walking:” “A truly good book is something as natural, and as unexpectedly and unaccountably fair and perfect, as a wild-flower...” (426) Thoreau advocating such a Romantic idea in writing further suggests Thoreau drew upon and espoused Romantic ideals throughout “Walking.”
Thoreau’s treatment of nature similarly manifests the influence of Romanticism on Thoreau. Thoreau understands nature much like the Romantics did: as a way to escape from the bounds of society and to be able to think clearly. More importantly, though, Thoreau sees nature as a vehicle for expressing truth through common experience. As Newman notes in his book about Thoreau and Transcendentalism, “Our Common Dwelling,” Thoreau believes “It is not just that poetry is the natural language of humanity, but more, that when people produce poetry, nature is working directly and immediately through them” (84). So, in addition to nature being the vehicle for the Romantic ideal of common language used in poetry, Thoreau also believes in the power of nature to aid in the Romantic notion of ‘emotion reflected in tranquility.’ Throughout “Walking,” Thoreau suggests walking enables him to “return to [his] senses” (411), rather than causing him to be distracted by society and out of his senses, suggesting he is able to produce this Romantically ideal tranquility while walking. Further, the love of nature and language is evident in his use of the West as a symbol for not just the future of the American Landscape, but also the wild. As he points out himself, “The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild” (421). While suggestions of the idea of Manifest Destiny and westward expansion come to mind as a reason for this symbolism during this time period, Glenn Deamer, in his essay “Thoreau: Walking Toward England,” points out “the dream is not inherent in the literal frontier,” (86) but rather Thoreau uses the West as a symbol solely for its rhetorical connection to the Wild rather than any recognition of its political or social value. Further evidence of Thoreau’s European Romantic love of nature can be seen in the symbolism he uses of tanned skin: “Tanned skin presents unmistakable physiological evidence of its communication with the natural, external world” (Harvery, 181). In other words, Thoreau uses tanned skin as a symbol for the connection of man with nature, because of the obvious cause of tan skin: time in the sun. His idealization of such a natural man further emphasizes the influence of European Romanticism.
Thoreau’s treatment of man to society also manifests the influence of Romanticism upon Thoreau’s “Walking.” The essay opens with the sentence “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil – to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society” (407). Clearly, Thoreau is placing the emphasis on man’s place not in society, but rather to Nature. The roots of such anti-societal sentiments can be seen in the philosophers of Europe around the Romantic era, such as Rousseau. For example, Rousseau’s famous statement in his “The Social Contract” is ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.’ While the focus of Rousseau in the rest of “The Social Contract” seems to be on man living inside of society, Thoreau takes this philosophy and focuses instead on living outside of society’s chains. As Duane Smith points out in his essay entitled “Romanticism in America: The Transcendentalists,” “If the German romantics saw isolation as the punishment imposed upon the man of genius… Thoreau saw it as a prize to be won after a long and hard struggle with that society which was prepared to do almost anything except leave one alone” (318). The statement Thoreau makes in “Walking:” “In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to Society” (411) suggests such a Romantic anti-societal viewpoint with an American individualistic spin. Another vital influence seen in European philosophical roots is that of the German writer Goethe. However, Thoreau rejects the work of Goethe as a complete influence on himself. As Kuhn points out in his book over Romanticism, “Thoreau’s verdict is clear: ‘Nature is hindered’ (327). Goethe’s artistic efforts are consequently incomplete” (125). Once again, the influence of Romanticism is clear, however, there are also some clear distinctions in Thoreau’s rejection of certain Romantic thought.
Such rejections of Romanticism can be best understood in the context of Thoreau’s hope in the emerging national American literature. Such an idea can be seen in Thoreau’s recognition of the influence of Wordsworth’s “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” on European Romanticism. Newman points out this recognition, stating, “Thoreau generalized from this understanding of Wordsworth’s cultural significance to develop his initial sense of the social and political functions of poetry and the poet” (86). Because of that influence, Thoreau sought to be an influential poet, like Wordsworth, in shaping the American nationalistic literature. Romantic understanding of the power of the poet further supports such a position. Newman states this by saying: “The poet -- a figure of secular authority... had the potential to lead the nation out of its interminable crisis...” (88). Essentially, Newman claims Thoreau’s position as a poet is part of his deep desire for an emerging national American Literature, and the roots of this desire lie in his appreciation of Wordsworth’s deep influence on Romanticism.
Such a desire for an American national literature fits with the general consensus of transcendentalists. Brown points out, “As the nation began to realize its potentialities and its worth, it became increasingly reluctant to accept its previous cultural dependence upon England” (1), and “It was in this period [early transcendentalism] that the first significant progress was made in the development of a national literature” (1). In other words, during the early days of American Transcendentalism, Transcendentalists understood American literature should be distinct from its European roots. In addition, Transcendentalists understood the influence of Romanticism could prevent a fully independent national American literature: “They simply had to disassociate themselves from what Emerson pungently called ‘the corpse-cold Unitarianism of Brattle Street and Harvard College’“ (Miller, 153). Clearly, Thoreau wrote “Walking” at a time when belief in an emerging national literature made sense. He wanted to liberate himself from being labeled merely as a European Romantic in America, yet he still drew upon Romantic ideology.
Evidences of such aspirations for an emerging national Literature can be seen in the prophetic and positive language used to describe the American West throughout “Walking:” “we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure” (“Walking,” 417). The specific mention of ‘the future’ in regards such a positive attitude of ‘enterprise and adventure’ suggests Thoreau’s belief in the future of America in creating a national literature. Garber notes Thoreau’s recognition of both the influence of Romanticism and the emerging national literature: “At many points in his writing Thoreau showed the problem of answering was not only his to work out but America’s as well.This former colony had to establish the sense and contours of its own Romanticism, which meant that it had to define an American version of nature and the self’s at-homeness within it” (43). In this quote, Garber essentially points out the Romantic ideal of nature and the self, and notes how the Transcendentalists shape this ideal into their own. Garber further notes Thoreau’s undergraduate essay, “Advantages and Disadvantages of Foreign Influence on American Literature,” and how it expresses such a sentiment of defining American literature inside of European Romanticism without being dominated by it: “We of New England are a peculiar people: we whistle, to be sure, our national tune; but the character of our literature is not yet established” (131). Thoreau continues on in “Advantages and Disadvantages” by noting American political independence from Britain, and suggests such an independence from Britain in literature would also be beneficial. The sentiment of Thoreau’s hope for an emerging national American literature is seen throughout “Walking.”
For example, Thoreau’s sense of nationalism, in addition to itself being a Romantic ideal, helps define his desire for an American literature. He is explicitly nationalistic in many parts of “Walking,” saying: “The species of large trees are much more numerous in North America… America is made for the man of the Old World” (“Walking,” 418) and “The heavens of America appear infinitely higher, the sky is bluer, the air is fresher, the cold is intenser… [etc.]” (419). Such a high praise of the American landscape is clearly representative of Thoreau’s nationalism. Thoreau then takes a strong case in denouncing his European influence and stating the inadequacies of European literature, saying phrases such as “It is hard for me to believe that I shall find fair landscapes or sufficient wildness and freedom behind the eastern horizon… I must walk toward Oregon, and not toward Europe” (416). In the first statement, Thoreau’s zealous belief in the American landscape suggests to him ‘the eastern horizon’ (symbolically, Europe) is simply inadequate in comparison to the experience he has had with the American landscape. In the second statement, he emphasizes his faith in the American landscape by explicitly stating his intention to ‘walk’ (symbolically, to allow himself to be inspired by) the American landscape, as opposed to the Europe landscape. He is even explicitly critical of English literature, saying: “English literature... breathes no quite fresh and, in this sense, wild strain. It is an essentially tame and civilized literature, reflecting Greece and Rome” (426). Such a criticism further suggests his dissatisfaction with European Romanticism as the primary defining factor in the emerging national American Literature. As Harvey points out in regards to Thoreau’s independent rhetoric in “Walking:” “to forget or decompose our European literary and historical sources is to ensure the survival and health of a new American identity” (185). After all, if American literature is too rooted in European literature, it can seem to be more of an extension to European literature rather than distinct from it. As Lorrie Smith notes in her essay over the influence of Romanticism in “Walking,” “indeed, he needs to declare his independence in order to enact his own original, American literary enterprise” (222). Clearly, Thoreau is distancing himself from and rejecting European Romanticism because of his hope for an independent American literature.
Thoreau’s rhetorical rejection of European Romanticism while simultaneously drawing upon its influence is itself also rooted in European Romanticism. Robert Langbaum notes in his book, “The Poetry of Experience,” such a tendency throughout Romanticism, saying, “the romanticists sees the past as different from the present and uses the past to explore the full extent in other words of his own modernity” (12). In other words, by recognizing and drawing upon the past, Romantics build upon their own unique present. Smith also notes this about Thoreau: “Though Thoreau implicitly critiques his antecedents... he also relies on their models to assert his own new place in the romantic tradition” (225). As already proven, Thoreau draws heavily upon Romanticism throughout “Walking.”
Despite Thoreau’s nationalistic rhetoric, which distances himself from Europe, Thoreau readily recognizes the influence of Romanticism on himself and on the emerging national American literature. He does this by saying: “We go eastward to realize history and study the works of art and literature, retracing the steps of the race; we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure” (“Walking,” 417). Thoreau fully recognizes the influence of literature and culture from Europe (the east) in the first half of the sentence. After the semicolon, however, Thoreau expresses his belief in the future of the American west, and symbolically, the future of the emerging national Literature. Perhaps the best summary of his sentiment towards the influence of European Romanticism is summed up in the Latin phrase he mentions: “Ex Oriente lux; ex Occidente FRUX. From the East light; from the West fruit” (419). Light is a source that nurtures a fruit to grow. However, fruit is an end unto itself, and a means for spreading more fruit. So it is with Thoreau’s hope for the emerging national American Literature. While Thoreau recognizes a clear influence of European Romanticism (the light), the new American literature is a worthwhile and independent product to itself (the fruit). While fruit cannot exist without the benefits of light, the existence of a fully matured fruit is independent of its nurturing light source. As Harvey interprets it: “Although light from the east is essential, the inspiration must never become more than a sustaining source, must never have its own coherent identity, lest it threaten the very life it nourishes” (195). As previous evidence already shows, in “Walking,” Thoreau understood and capitalized on his influence of Romanticism, however, he used it to further the emerging national American literature.
While Thoreau draws heavily upon this Romantic influence, Thoreau is unwilling to rest solely upon it because of his desire for a national American Literature. This desire is driven both by the recognition of a need for a national American literature, and Romantic ideology such as nationalism and individualism. Evidences of European Romanticism and Thoreau’s desire for a national American literature permeate his essay “Walking.”
“My choice for knowledge is intermittent, but my desire to wash my head in atmospheres unknown to my toes is perennial and constant. The maximum that we will attain to is not Knowledge, but Sympathy with Intelligence.”
A beautiful reminder to spend more time outside and that I don’t have to know ~all the things~ all the time.
“I walk out right into a nature inclusive of the antique prophets and poets, Menu, Moses, Homer, Chaucer, walked in. You can also call it America, but it isn't America: neither Americus Vespucius, nor Columbus, nor the rest have been the discoverers of it. There is a truer quantity of it in mythology than in any records of America, so known as, that I actually have visible.”
A beautiful reminder to spend more time outside and that I don’t have to know ~all the things~ all the time.
“I walk out right into a nature inclusive of the antique prophets and poets, Menu, Moses, Homer, Chaucer, walked in. You can also call it America, but it isn't America: neither Americus Vespucius, nor Columbus, nor the rest have been the discoverers of it. There is a truer quantity of it in mythology than in any records of America, so known as, that I actually have visible.”
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Although I agree that it's important to take the time to stop & smell the roses, Thoreau was completely & resolutely crazy!
7 in 7 readathon book #4. A big meh. Starts well, then he goes off on one about civilisation and society. Doesn't really stick to the topic of walking at all. Too bad.
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced