 Nature

https://www.bartleby.com/essay/A-Comparison-of-the-Poetry-of-Emily-FKJHB2XYVJ

The twentieth century English poetry is celebrated for uniqueness of thought and expression and..  a
space to nearly all the happenings and events that took place in the naturalworld ranging from the
sunrise to the sunset, the change to one season to another, the birds, theflowers and whatever was a
part of it. Nearly everything occupied her imagination from themountain to a blade of grass. Frisbie
Whicher opines that “the world of nature in more familiaraspects lay ready to her hand. She availed
herself of it as soon as she began to write poems at alland continued to the end. "About one-fifth of her
nature poetry may be classified as nature poetry”

TRANSCENDhttp://www.emilydickinson.org/emily-dickinson-lyrical-ecologies-forays-into-the-field/coda-
natural-messages-and-aesthetic-pleasure-in-emily-dickinson-s-nature-writingENTALISM

The poetry of Emily Dickinson is the embodiment of transcendentalism. It Is both pondering and
appreciative of human nature and the world In which human nature exists. .. nother overlapping
concept between transcendentalism and Emily Dickinson poetry is the love of nature and its relationship
with divinity. While examining Dickinson poetry, it would be difficult for one to deny that Dickinson
possessed a pep love for nature. This love is often shown with a few simple words but is focused on the
details of the subject. In her poem “Nature is What We See” , Emily Dickinson straightforwardly
expresses her belief that “nature is what we know’ because it cradles humanity and makes up entirely
what one hears, sees, and experiences with the senses…

Dickinson provides the simple examples that one sees a hill, the afternoon, a squirrel, an eclipse, a
bumble bee and hears the sea, thunder, and a cricket and shows her appreciation for nature by saying
that it is both heaven and harmony. At the end of the poem, Dickinson leaves the reader with the idea
that the wisdom that humans work so hard to gain and so proudly boast pales in comparison to the
gloriousness that nature possesses in its simplicity. In many of Dickinson poems as in “Nature is What
We See”, she makes a connection between an earthly existence and a transcendent existence such as
when she stated “Nature is heaven. She believed that a certain divinity existed in both nature and
humanity and investigated the relationship between divinity and nature and divinity and humanity, and
eventually how all three forces were connected in the universe. In her poem “The Brain is Wider than
the Sky’, Dickinson explores the human capacity to contain both nature and divinity even though
humanity exists among these things. In the first stanza of the poem, Dickinson states “The brain is wider
than the sky, for, put them side by side, the one the other will include with ease, and you beside. By this,
she means that the capacity and depth of the human brain is boundless, even greater than that of the
sky to contain anything. She subtly suggests that when comparing them, the brain would easily include
such an earthly thing as he sky inside of it and leave the rest of the earthly human next to it and in awe
of it. In the next stanza, Dickinson compares the brain to another feature of the natural world, the sea.
She states “The brain is deeper than the sea, for, hold them, blue to blue, the one the other will absorb,
as sponges, buckets do. With this stanza, Dickinson is yet again comparing the divine and wondrous
ability of the brain to a feature of nature that many find wonder within. She suggests that the brain
would absorb the sea within it because of the power that the brain possesses as it is he sea or the sky. In
the last stanza of the poem, Dickinson states “The brain is Just the weight of God, for, lift them, pound
for pound, and they will differ, if they do, as syllable from sound. ” With this stanza she is comparing the
divinity of the brain to the ultimate divine figure, God, and suggesting that the brain contains God within
it…………She believes that the brain plays as much of a role in the human existence as God does, but that
the brain is more capacious because it is able to create and believe in such a concept as God. Emily
Dickinson poetry concerning nature exemplifies Sandra Necessary point of view that “Dickinson love of
nature painted a tremendously complex picture as she tried to find in the natural world a firm
understanding of the relationship between people and God and the solutions to questions of shape and
continuity of the universe that she could find nowhere in her background” truly solidifying the
transcendental spirit into something tangible. ……..

Dickinson often extols the beauty and benevolence of nature as most romantics and transcendentalists
do in their writings. In some of her verse, nature is defined as the gentlest mother, who is impatient of
no child (Fr. 741A) but consoles one who takes “the Royal names in vain –” (Fr. 745A) and whose
harmony as well as simplicity can elicit a feeling of certainty (Fr. 721A, B).[3] Nature is portrayed as so
hospitable as to lavishly offer food and beauty equally to beggars and bees (Fr. 1106A). Additionally,
nature is depicted as a divine world that is “thrown wide open to” the poet (L 458) who partakes not
only its “sacred emblems” but also its “consecrated bread” and “immortal wine –” (Fr. 122A). Spring
especially is portrayed as a time none “stir[s] abroad” without “a cordial interview” with the deity (Fr.
948A). Like the natural theologians and philosophers who were her contemporaries, Dickinson’s early
poems suggest that beauty and sublimity in nature can not only lead to one’s experience of divine
existence but also reveal a philosophy of life through encounters with such natural elements/beings as
“the little Stone” (Fr. 1570B, E, F), a squirrel (Fr. 1407A), a lark (Fr. 86A), a “Brave Black Berry” (Fr. 548A),
and a jay (Fr. 1596A, B, C).[4]

In her earlier poems Dickinson found nature „a mother‟ and then she found nature „mocking at man‟
but finally discovers a mysterious link between man and nature. In Dickinson‟s nature poetry we are
transported to a separated world that is not only of „flora and fauna‟. It is a world of her own. Nature
became the link between herself and the external world. Her life‟s journey is from the world of
innocence to that of experience and so does her understanding of nature.

Dickinson saw nature as a manifestation of the Supreme also.To her, nature and its objects weren’t just
something to be observed but in addition to this, theyserved for her as a means to reach the
Transcendent. Dickinson was a complex poet and many atimes, she is regarded as a Nature mystic.
Nature was something which acted as a symbol of thelarger Self to her. It was eternity that every object
of nature was packed with. Dickinson also sawthrough nature a more powerful spirit which pervaded
the universe. The mystery of nature,
the processes of nature fascinated her to the extent that she would try to comprehend the hiddenmessa
ges that lay embedded in the natural activities.

DEATH

Dickinson’s preoccupation with the theme of death leaves its mark upon her nature poems

also. In many of her poems death lies at the core of nature. There’s a certain slant of light
bears the transcendental overtones. Dickinson examines the

terror and awe that a snake’s presence can cause. At first this reptile is treated very playfully;

his sudden ‘notice’ and quick movements fascinate the observer. The fearful undertones are

aggravated by the adjective ‘narrow’ and the snake’s hidden, gliding motion. The last line of

the poem “And zero at the Bone –” evokes a sense of terror in us. There is always a hidden

indication that it may be the Eden serpent, the traditional embodiment of the devil. The poem

gradually develops the sense of man’s fear of unknown and evil. Nature’s surface beauty has

under its wrapper the terror also. Thus it becomes Dickinson’s only poem where nature truly

represents hostility towards human world. The sudden appearance and vanishing of the snake

also shocks the human beings. The habitat of the snake is unknown.

Hence, Dickinson commonly pairing nature with death in her poems served as a contradiction to that
particular representation of nature.  For instance, in 359, the opening stanza illustrates an example of
death in nature:

“A bird came down the walk –

He did not know I saw –

He bit an Angle Worm in halves

And ate the fellow, raw,”

Not only a striking image, but Dickinson’s description of the bird devouring the worm instills an idea that
death is an inherent element of nature.  Considering Dickinson’s apparent fascination in her poems with
the concept of death, this poem including a moment of death isn’t that surprising.  Instead, what really
strikes me about this moment is how Dickinson presents this scene.  As evident from the line “He did not
know I saw”, Dickinson presents the death of the worm from the perspective of a quiet observer.  In
presenting this instance of nature in this manner, Dickinson enables her audience to insert themselves
as the narrator and ponder this moment in nature for themselves.  By examining this short moment of
brutality, readers can recall and consider on their prior views concerning nature. I feel that these poems
enable one to step back and consider their perspective as well as Dickinson’s perspective, which I think
is a really interesting aspect of Dickinson’s writing.

Emily took a turn from the conventional praise and appreciation of nature which was invogue at that
time. She brought into limelight the decaying and the corruptive powers whichoperated in the natural
world. At times, nature appeared indifferent and terrified one with theterrors that it threw open. In a
poem, she discusses the cruel treatment offered to a flower by thefrost and the way it kills the
happy flower. She says:

  Apparently with no surpriseTo any happy flowerThe frost beheads it at its play  In accidental powe
APPRECIATED NATURE

ature, however, fascinated her, in all its appearances and actions. It laid anoverwhelming impact upon

her soul and she would dwell upon the possibilities of embracing andunderstanding it. Every object of
nature fascinated her and influenced her to the extent that itoccupied a space in her poetry. She saw in
nature living qualities. She would feel the rain beingfollowed by a breeze that would tap the door like a
visitor. She would see the wind beingaccompanied by storms and tempests shaking the human world.

She cherished all aspects of the natural world including the wilderness. In fact, her poems act asthe
reservoirs of living and non-living natural entities. Birds, flowers, landscapes, all attractedher. She shared
a special bond with the birds. Many of her poems reflect the keen sense ofobservation that she had.
From the movements of creatures to the change of seasons, she blendedeverything reflecting a highly
complex sense of thought. Her poems come alive with the waysshe rendered her experiences. In a poem
written on a Hummingbird, she makes the reader feelthe sensations of sound, touch and sight as well.
She discusses the colour, the movement and thesense impressions with an economically effective use of
language

Birds were her dearest companions. Many of her poems deal with birds and their symbolicresonances.
Her poems are emblematic of the fact that she was a creative genius. The pictorialquality and the use of
symbols is well marked in her poetry. In fact, the way she associates andunites the inner and the outer
sphere is unsurpassable. Her interior was actually tied up with theexterior. She used varied elements of
nature in order to describe the positions which are occupied by humans. Not only this, in many of her
poems, Dickinson talked about the alarming qualitiesof nature also. It has been talked about as being “a
haunted house”. She talks about it as
being pervaded by a ghost which can be related to the real spirit that pervades nature. Even at times,sh
e brings it out as completely incomprehensible saying that the more one approaches nature, themore
complex it gets for comprehension. Nature sometimes appears as being
exceptionally beautiful while at many other places it appears
as haunting and a mystery. However, throughher poetry, she tried to capture and channelize the quest
that she possessed in order to understandthe illusive natural world
