Nature is often used as imagery in Alexander Pope's, Eloisa to Abelard, as well as descriptions of heaven, holiness, God, being wedded to God, Jesus' sacrifice, the sacred, solitary confinement, crime and offense, desire for submission to God and often tears and weeping. As the poem is about Eloisa and Abelard being in love, married and having a child, then being separated and Abelard castrated and Eloisa forced into a convent, descriptions of nature are useful imagery, because it is used to explain Eloisa's conflict between what is natural for her to feel. More specifically, Eloisa is torn between being a devout Christian and her love for Abelard that has been condemned. She struggles between following God and loving Abelard because she feels it is natural to do both, yet she is being forced to choose, however, she cannot. Although, if she must decide, she chooses Abelard, against what she has been taught she must do, which is to serve God piously. Eloisa is forced into a kind of purgatory, caught between loving mortal and carnal desires, and higher divine love.
Nature is used in another way as well, Eloisa describes nature as no longer being of comfort to her. She is so torn and feels very melancholy, as Pope writes: "Black melancholy
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sits, and round her throws / A death-like silence, and a dread repose" (165-166). Eloisa is weighed down and depressed by being forced to choose between two that she loves, which are both God and Abelard. Pope uses additional depictions of nature in the sense that Eloisa is so torn, that her affliction has an effect on the natural world itself. Pope writes: Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene, Shades every flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green, Deepens the murmur of the falling floods, And breathes a browner horror on the woods (168-170). Here, Eloisa's torment and sadness darkens all the world. Because things are not right between her and God, as well as within herself, as she is in an internal battle and not at peace. When things are not right between God and one of His children, being the creator of the world, according to Christian doctrine, which Eloisa believes in, the entirety of nature, what God has created weeps because the natural order of things is off. Additionally, this passage is used in the sense that Eloisa's depression and pain runs so deep, that even nature feels its impact. When Pope uses imagery of weeping, tears, solitude, and loneliness it is meant to express that though Eloisa is in a convent and Abelard has become a monk, which are supposed to be places of peace, serenity and only weeping is to be in repentance to God, the two feel as segregated and alone as if they were lost in darkness. At the beginning of the poem, Pope has written: In these deep solitudes and awful cells, Where heav'nly-pensive contemplation dwells, And ever musing melancholy reigns; What means this tumult in a vestal's veins? (1-4). Abelard is questioning why in this place, a convent or a monastery, where one should be deep in thought on heavenly and divine things that should bring peace and joy, Eloisa, now a devoted nun, is still so miserable. The question is answered a short time later in the poem by Eloisa: And pitying saints, whose statues learn to weep! Though cold like you, unmoved, and silent grown, I have not yet forgotten myself to stone. Heav'n claims me all in vain, while he has part, Still rebel nature holds out half my heart (Pope 22-26). Eloisa is saying that being separated from her love has caused her to grow cold and silent, she has not become unfeeling as a stone statue, as she is referring to statues of the saints. She says that heaven, or God claims her as His own, but Abelard holds a part of her heart. "Rebel nature" is her love for Abelard even though she has been told it is wrong and goes against God's will. Additionally, the illustrations of weeping and tears washing away Eloisa's sin and desire for Abelard represent the notion of God's holy water and Jesus' sacrificial blood that is supposed to be the only true way to wash away sin and unholy desires. Eloisa also struggles with the logic of being separated from Abelard, she finds that her love for him is no sin. Still near the beginning of the poem Eloisa explains that when she first fell in love with Abelard, it was an innocent love: Thou know'st how guiltless first I met thy flame, When love approached me under friendship's name; My fancy formed thee of angelic kind (Pope 59-61) Guiltless I gazed; Heav'n listened while you sung; And truths divine came mended from that tongue. From lips like those what precept failed to move? Too soon they taught me 'twas no sin to love (Pope 65-68) Eloisa fell in love with Abelard, it came out of an innocent friendship and then she began to see him as divine because her love became so deep and so incredible.
She felt that her love for him could be no sin because whom she loved seemed angelic and celestial. However, she goes onto say that she came to her senses: "Back through the pleasing sense I ran, / Nor wished an angel whom I loved a man" (Pope 69-70). Although she came to her senses and realized Abelard was a mortal man, she accepted him as such and loved him despite his imperfection as a human being. This suggests that Eloisa cannot understand why God, or Christian's and Christian doctrine cannot support her as a moral being, one who simply loves God as well as a
man. Furthermore, because Eloisa cannot understand why she is forbidden to love a man, one whom God created to be loved, she feels cold toward her commitment to a convent. Again, though she is a devout Christian, she finds herself cold toward God because she is being forced to go against the nature of things, which is to love, and not only God, but also the man who has captured her heart. She sees love as being no sin. Because she feels forced to love God and to forget Abelard, she cannot think on anything divine. She says: As with cold lips I kissed the sacred veil, The shrines all trembled, and the lamps grew pale: Heav'n scarce believed the conquest it surveyed, And saints with wonder heard the vows I made. Yet then, to those dread altars I drew, Not on the cross my eyes were fixed, but you; Not grace, or zeal, love only was my call, And if I lose thy love, I lose my all (Pope 111-118). In the first four lines of this passage Eloisa reflects on her commitment to become a nun and to serve God, however, there is imagery of "cold lips," and that heaven could barely believe that it has won her as a servant. This suggests that as she is making this devotion to God, she does so with half of her heart. She felt cold, perhaps as though she were half dead inside because she was forced into it. The last four lines, the tone changes, she says "yet," which indicates a change, and explains that as she came upon the altars to pray, she was not focused on God or Jesus' sacrifice, or God's grace or any zeal she should have for His love, kindness or forgiveness, rather all she could think of was her love for Abelard and that if she lost him, she has lost everything. This imagery can be compared to God's love for man, and in this instance, Eloisa, as He passionately loves humankind more than anything, and that without Him, humans have nothing. Because nothing could be stronger than God's love for His children, this comparison suggests that Eloisa's feeling of loss is stronger than anything in the world, and hurts her in such a way that could never be truly described. Near the end of the poem there is imagery of her love for Abelard as a crime or an offense, as well as her attempt to wed God in an emotional, devout sense and to separate herself from Abelard and to do the right thing. Pope writes: "Repent old pleasures, and solicit new: / Now turned to Heav'n, I weep my past offense, / Now think of thee, and curse my innocence" (186-188). Eloisa tries to serve God but she only weeps the absence of her lover, not the offense she has been told she committed by loving him, she is not truly repentant. She questions how she should hate what she has done, yet still love Abelard: "How shall I lose the sin, yet keep the sense, / And love th' offender, yet detest th' offense" (Pope 191-192). Eloisa cannot add logic to what she feels she is supposed to do, which is love God and not Abelard. In conclusion, imagery of nature represents Eloisa's feelings of having to do what is unnatural, love God and no other. She cannot see the offense in loving Abelard, though she tries. In her quest to stop loving him, she weeps, sheds tears and not just because she is separated from Abelard, but because she cannot fully love and devout herself to God while she is being forced to do the unnatural, which is to forget her mortal love. The imagery of weeping and sacrifice serves both Eloisa's and Abelard's separation and commitment to a convent and monastery, as well as Eloisa's acknowledgement of God's sacrifice and love for her. She mourns because she is in a kind of purgatory; a place between God and Abelard, which is a loveless, confined, cold place. She knows that the only way to have peace is to have love and she needs it from God and from Abelard, but she is forever lost in a place that is absent of both. Abelard is physically missing and God is emotionally and spiritually distant from her because she cannot feel peaceful with her lover.
In Emerson’s article, Nature, the passage shows great value of how man and nature can be similar. The article shows in many ways how man can represent nature, and how nature can represent everything. Emerson’s Nature can be related to Guy Montag’s journey into nature in Fahrenheit 451, and the author’s ways of showing similarity between man and vegetable can be presented as showing how nature is mixed in with literature and humans.
In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards created the emotion of fear by using imagery and figurative language to persuade his audience. He used imagery and figurative language so the wrath of God is more fearsome and gave you a mental picture of hell in your head.
In Emerson’s “Nature” nature is referred to as “plantations of god” meaning that nature is sacred. Also mentioned, is that “In the woods is perpetual youth”(#) conveying that nature keeps people young. Therefore, these excerpts show that nature is greatly valued by these transcendentalists. Transcendentalists would likely care significantly about the environment. In contrast, nowadays nature is often and afterthought. Natures’ resources are being depleted for human use, and the beauty of nature is also not as appreciated by modern people as it was by transcendentalists. The threat to nature in modern times contrasts to the great appreciation of nature held by authors like Emerson and
From the lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail to the environmental lobby groups in Washington D.C., nature evokes strong feelings in each and every one of us. We often struggle with and are ultimately shaped by our relationship with nature. The relationship we forge with nature reflects our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. The works of timeless authors, including Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, are centered around their relationship to nature.
Throughout the Romanticism period, human’s connection with nature was explored as writers strove to find the benefits that humans receive through such interactions. Without such relationships, these authors found that certain aspects of life were missing or completely different. For example, certain authors found death a very frightening idea, but through the incorporation of man’s relationship with the natural world, readers find the immense utility that nature can potentially provide. Whether it’d be as solace, in the case of death, or as a place where one can find oneself in their own truest form, nature will nevertheless be a place where they themselves were derived from. Nature is where all humans originated,
In his essay, "Nature", Ralph Waldo Emerson describes man's relationship to nature and to God. Early on, he describes himself as a "transparent eyeball." In this passage, he expresses his view that nature is purity. Emerson believes being in pure nature brings mankind closer to the way God intended life to be. Through nature man and God are brought together.
The first play, A Midsummer's Night's Dream has a lot of nature metaphor is in families. The very first conversation in it has a king blaming the moon and night time for his not being able to marry. Theseus wanted to marry Hippolita right away but four moonshines were delaying him. Another example comes from Lysander. He saw roses in Hermia's cheeks and rain falling from her unhappy eyes. When Lysander wakes up and sees Helena, He decides he wants her instead of Hermia. He says, " things growing are not ripe until their season . . . [which] leads me to your eyes" (MND II, 2,100-110). He compares himself to unripe fruit or something that has not reached its final or mature stage in growth. Lysander said that he only fancied Hermia because he was young and naïve but now that he was "ripe", he wanted Helena. This is a parallel made by Lysander to nature. Not only did he believe that nature controlled all actions but he truly believed everything followed the same life pattern. Later, Lysander is confronted by Hermia and he compares her to terrible things like animals and serpents because he no longer saw her as his love but as someone he outgrew. This reference shows a part of life that is not wonderful and pretty but loathsome and dirty.
Emerson's essay, Nature is essentially one that seeks show a new form of enlightening the human spirit and urges the establishment of a stronger link between man and the Universal Spirit through. Emerson sees nature as this inspiration to people and catalyst for a deeper understanding of the spiritual world.
The main characteristic of Romanticism that Emily Dickinson portrays in her writing is the emphases of the importance of Nature to the Romantics. In most of her poems there is some mention or comparison to something found in Nature. In Poem 449, she refers to the moss that covers the names on the graves of the tombstones of “Beauty” and “Truth.” The Puritans believed Nature to be the realm of the devil. By including references to Nature in many of her poems, she was rebelling against the ideals of the Puritan upbringing she had hated so much.
In the first stanza, the poet seems to be offering a conventional romanticized view of Nature:
In these poems and many others, Dylan Thomas expresses God’s presence and unconditional love for everyone. He has conventional spiritual views, occasionally alluding to the Bible, but his images are unique. He describes heaven with the stars and the wind, and connects God with thunder, rainbows, and gravel. Using the motion and life on the earth, Dylan Thomas facilitates these concrete ideas to describe his abstract spiritual beliefs. Nature is an ideal way to describe God because He is present everywhere on our earth. Whether it be the soul’s redemption into heaven with God and the earth or God’s great force that creates all motion on the planet, His presence is the theme that Dylan Thomas expresses best of all of his poetry.
Some aspects of nature give messages to the reader to feel a certain way about an element in nature. While Hester was walking through to forest with Dimmesdale Pearl had told her “Mother, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself because it is afraid of something on you bosom.” (174). One can infer that the sunlight is freedom and forgiveness, while the shade is sin. So there is a message to the reader that as long as she is wearing the Scarlet Letter, she will always be a sinner in her ways. Without nature a reader could not infer that which is why Nathaniel Hawthorne needed it to be able to send a message to the reader about Hester’s sin. Another important reason why Nathaniel Hawthorne needed nature is to be able to add feeling to material objects. Along with character emotions nature is also used to represent how a reader should feel about objects. It gives different connotations to objects intentionally placed in the book. In chapter one Hawthorne represents prisons as the “black flower of civilized society” (46). Hawthorne is able to give a negative connotation to the word black by relating it to sin and that the Black Flower would not grow without the sin of others which it is its nutrients. Being able to have connotations make the reader much more connected to the book which in
Through the ingenious works of poetry the role of nature has imprinted the 18th and 19th century with a mark of significance. The common terminology ‘nature’ has been reflected by our greatest poets in different meanings and understanding; Alexander Pope believed in reason and moderation, whereas Blake and Wordsworth embraced passion and imagination.
Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803-1882), the leader of the Transcendentalism in New England, is the first American who wrote prose and poem on nature and the relationship between nature and man Emerson's philosophy of Transcendentalism concerning nature is that nature is only another side of God "the gigantic shadow of God cast our senses." Every law in nature has a counterpart in the intellect. There is a perfect parallel between the laws of nature and the laws of thought. Material elements simply represent an inferior plane: wherever you enumerate a physical law, I hear in it a moral rule. His poem The Rhodora is a typical instance to illustrate his above-mentioned ideas on nature. At the very beginning of the poem, the poet found the fresh rhodora in the woods, spreading its leafless blooms in a deep rock, to please the desert and the sluggish brook, while sea-winds pieced their solitudes in May. It is right because of the rhodora that the desert and the sluggish brook are no longer solitudes. Then the poem goes to develop by comparison between the plumes of the redbird and the rhodora . Although the bird is elegant and brilliant, the flower is much more beautiful than the bird. So the sages can not helping asking why this charm is wasted on the earth and sky. The poet answers beauty is its own cause for being just as eyes are made for seeing. There is no other reason but beauty itsel...
The power of nature is all around us and can be found almost anywhere. One is able to study nature through experiencing it firsthand, looking at a picture, watching a movie, or even reading a familiar children’s story. I believe that by learning more about nature we can grow closer to God. Emerson states, “Nature is so pervaded in human life, that there is something of humanity in all, and in every particular” (Emerson 508). Like Emerson, I believe that humanity and nature were created by God and we can learn more about the Spirit of God by studying nature. I also see that nature has the power to influence our emotions and actions. I see evidence of this through various landscapes such as the desert, the beach, the mountains and the jungle. I thought about the vastness of the desert during a recent trip to the desert with my class. I think about nature and my love for it when I am scanning through my photo album and see pictures that capture me enjoying the mountains of Utah. When I watched the movie The Beach I was struck out how nature, specifically the beautiful beaches of Thailand, influenced the actions of every character in the movie. Of course it is hard to read a legendary story such as “Jungle Book” and not see what a powerful effect nature and its’ animals can have over humans.