Walt Whitman And Transcendentalism Essay

Is it possible to exist in nature without existing in God’s eyes? With many different views on nature and its relationship with individuals, it always seems to return to the miracle of God. As each era ends and a new one begins’, we are able to see how the views and its relationship with nature change. While the Transcendentalists believed that regular contact with nature was an important part of life, and the Puritans thought it to be a gift from God, the Founding Fathers viewed it as a way to help build their nation.

The Transcendentalists are known to believe that nature is a very important part of life that is also influenced spiritually. They view nature as a symbol of God. Walt Whitman, as a Transcendentalist, began his relationship with nature at a young age while his father was a farmer. As he became older and started writing poetry, we see that his poems reflect this relationship that has grown within him between nature and God. As seen in Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself in our textbook, he views himself as part of nature when stating “I am mad for it to be in contact with me” (1025). Here he is making himself one with nature and one with God.

While the Transcendentalists see nature as a part of life influenced spiritually, the Puritans view it as a gift from God.

The Puritan lifestyle was to live in the world without being of the world. As a Puritan, Anne Bradstreet battled with her beliefs in God but seeing nature with her own eyes proved that he existed. In her poem Contemplations, as seen in our textbook, we can see her pondering the beauty of this earth and imagining the beauty in heaven that will be so much greater. While Anne Bradstreet loves nature and its beauty, she really has a desire for eternal life. As she writes her poems, that often display the nature around her, she is always led to think about God. So as we see by the Puritan beliefs and Anne Bradstreet’s poems, the image we get of nature always leads back to

God.
The Founding Fathers viewed nature as a way to help their land which is given to them by God. As stated in our textbook in The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, we read in A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of American, in General Congress Assembled, where he mentions the laws of nature and of nature’s God (340). Jefferson is indirectly conveying that nature and law should be in conjunction with one another. As did Walt Whitman, Thomas Jefferson began his relationship with nature directly at a young age. After his father died, Jefferson, at the age of 14, inherited his father’s land. While Thomas Jefferson held many prominent titles and worked heavily as a politician over the years, he always escaped to nature as an escape from the stress.
As seen when comparing the relationship of nature with the Transcendentalists, the Puritans, and the Founding Fathers, many similarities are present but there are also many differences. The Transcendentalists would spend much of their time enjoying and becoming one with nature. This was done by spending time outdoors and realizing the beauty that was around them. The Puritans spent their time enjoying nature also but were to make sure that they did not become of the world by allowing themselves to overlook the gifts that God had given them. Lastly, the Founding Fathers viewed nature as a way of helping the land but they also believed that nature and the law coincided. Although each era has its own beliefs and relationships with nature, I believe that even today nature will always be related to God and the greatness he has given us.