Emerson, Thoreau, and Nature

Many people in the class complained of the heat of the nature walk, but I welcomed it. I was just grateful to get out of the classroom. Transcendentalists believe in going to observe nature away from any traces of modern civilization. I didn't have this experience. While I thought the weather was fine, apparently unlike a majority of my classmates, there was an ROTC ropes course apparatus made of creaking wood and molding ropes in the middle of the woods which immediately took away any hint of a feeling of being alone with nature. Upon closer inspection of the woods, it was evident that this was not the only thing that was going to distract from the experience. Cars could be heard whizzing by, littering the ground were beer bottles and dip cans aplenty, glittering from the streams of sunlight breaking through the trees, and football equipment on the practice field was clearly visible. Surely Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and other past transcendentalists would not approve.
Transcendentalists have many beliefs and ideas about nature. Henry David Thoreau states "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if i could not learn what it had to teach..." While I may be interpreting this differently than Thoreau's original intentions for that line, I think there is something that can be learned from our trip to the woods. It was obvious that more needs to be done to beautify and preserve what true settings of nature are left in our world. Ralph Waldo Emerson makes a point similar to this, stressing the importance of the relationship between man and nature; "Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both." I believe Emerson is discussing something similar to just that; that man can only truly enjoy nature when he holds up his end of the bargain by keeping nature the way it was intended to be; unaffected by mankind.
The wonders of nature as described by Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson may be lost with their generation. As modern society advances and the human population grows, there will probably be even less and less woods and other areas of pure, unaffected nature for future generations to enjoy. Those who desire for the nature that Emerson and Thoreau seemed to have loved so much to be around longer will definitely want to make changes speedy and widespread in how the conservation of our world is viewed. I'm sure Emerson and Thoreau would immediately try to find a way to bring about change and make a difference. While our nature walk wasn't the beautiful, peaceful, natural experience that is was supposed to be, it was a good chance to see how nature is being affected by mankind and the changes that need to made soon.