I absolutely love reading Emerson, and reading this particular essay in the midst of a campus glistening with fresh snow has been fitting. As he mentions, there is something special about winter and its beauty that is often taken for granted, or looked past, by those waiting for the warmth and lushness of summertime.
I appreciated what Emerson says about nature being an independent entity- something that acts on its own accords, its essences unchanged or undefined by man. The divine quality of nature, and the kind of reverence it awakens and begs for in its beholders is something that he speaks of as constant and timeless; though not itself human, a part of the human experience that is so moving and powerful. Nature can bring back a sense of youthful wonder for those who allow themselves to be affected by it, those “whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other”. Emerson’s ever so poetic language makes this easy a beautiful read, however I do feel like there are certain lines such as “nature wears the colors of the spirit” that are ambiguous enough to welcome various interpretations (I wonder if he welcomes this intentionally).
On the topic of nature giving, and giving, and humans not seeming to reciprocate its generosity, I was reminded of literature I have read about Native American/Indigenous spirituality and relationship to the earth. Our species is greedy; we take and take from the earth and it gives to us, but to Emerson’s point, we are often so distracted by the superficial demands of our human world to fully understand or appreciate this gift. Some of the latter chapters beg the question, What is matter? Being a philosophy major, my mind went to Kantian philosophy and theories of idealism, which state that matter is a phenomenon, “the form of experience is mind-dependent” rather than simply a substance. Emerson seems to think it is of utmost importance for us to be able to explain nature in ways that aren’t purely physical. It has this divine spirit and emphasis on ways humans and human minds perceive it may be distancing us from it or removing sympathy for and with it.
