‘Nature’ by Henry David Thoreau

Born in Concord, Massachusetts, on 12 July 1817, Henry David Thoreau is one of the key  figures of 19th century American literature. A prolific writer, transcendentalist philosopher and naturalist, Thoreau is now best known for his two-year experiment in minimalist, hermit-like living in a small cabin by the shores of the Walden Pond, eloquently described in great detail in his famous book Walden; or, Life in the Woods.

Throughout his writings there is a strong sense of what would today be labeled as green anarchism, marked by civil disobedience, anti-authoritarianism, and a radical rethinking of man’s interaction with the natural world.

To illustrate Thoreau’s sentiments, in this post we’ll have a look at his poem “Nature”. In it the author expresses his desire to learn from nature—be its student rather than master. At the time of colossal environmental destruction, we would all do well to adopt the same attitude.

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O Nature! I do not aspire
To be the highest in thy choir, -
To be a meteor in thy sky,
Or comet that may range on high;
Only a zephyr that may blow
Among the reeds by the river low;
Give me thy most privy place
Where to run my airy race.

In some withdrawn, unpublic mead
Let me sigh upon a reed,
Or in the woods, with leafy din,
Whisper the still evening in:
Some still work give me to do, -
Only - be it near to you!

For I'd rather be thy child
And pupil, in the forest wild,
Than be the king of men elsewhere,
And most sovereign slave of care;
To have one moment of thy dawn,
Than share the city's year forlorn.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Henry David Thoreau (an Encyclopedia Britannica entry)

Walden; or, Life in the Woods (a downloadable ebook, available in various formats)

What is eco-anarchism? (a free-to-access academic paper)

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COVER PHOTO CREDITS

Photo by Lukasz Szmigiel via Unsplash.