Transcendentalism In Henry David Thoreau's 'Spring'

Henry David Thoreau’s Walden encompasses a variety of themes and elements which cultivate an astounding work of American literature. “Spring” is focused on the changing of the season from winter to spring, and Thoreau’s analysis of Walden Pond and the area surrounding the pond. Thoreau looks at the pond from a spiritual aspect, describing the relationships between life and nature with an abysmal passion. Without Thoreau’s incorporation of precise literary elements, and integration of the themes of solitude, newness of life, and transcendentalism to clearly outline the spiritual revelations he obtained from his retirement at Walden Pond, the readers of his work would not be able to completely grasp the concepts Thoreau presents. Thoreau has

There is a canal two rods wide along the northerly and westerly sides, and wider still at the east end. A great field of ice has cracked off from the main body. I hear a song sparrow singing from the bushes on the shore, -- olit, olit, olit, -- chip, chip, chip, che char, -- che wiss, wiss, wiss. He too is helping to crack it. How handsome the great sweeping curves in the edge of the ice, answering somewhat to those of the shore, but more regular! It is unusually hard, owing to the recent severe but transient cold, and all watered or waved like a palace floor. But the wind slides eastward over its opaque surface in vain, till it reaches the living surface beyond. It is glorious to behold this ribbon of water sparkling in the sun, the bare face of the pond full of glee and youth, as if it spoke the joy of the fishes within it, and of the sands on its shore -- a silvery sheen as from the scales of a leuciscus, as it were all one active fish. Such is the contrast between winter and spring. Walden was dead and is alive again. Note But this spring it broke up more steadily, as I have said. (252, 253)

Thoreau Thoreau later concludes that spring teaches forgiveness, how to treat people, and is proof of eternity and

Solitude is not a word commonly associated with prosperity and healthy living, but Thoreau has been given time in his solitude to reflect on life and without distraction. His lack of companionship for the majority of his stay at Walden Pond has given him the clarity he had hoped to gain to analyze the spirituality of nature. Although Thoreau uses solitude as a theme throughout Walden, solitude only really appears once in the description of the marsh-hawk while hunting for its next meal. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the marsh-hawk, formally known as the Northern Harrier, is mainly only in the state of Massachusetts for breeding which also adds to the theme of newness of life. (“Northern Harrier”) The grass is beginning to grow again, trees are developing buds from which flowers will grow, and birds are migrating back from their winter vacations. Thoreau uses the growing leaves to make a transcendental comparison. Thoreau writes, “Who knows what the human body would expand and flow out to under a more genial heaven? Is not the hand a spreading palm leaf with its lobes and veins?”