Written by Olga Donskaia
Today, in the middle of the 6th mass extinction, when the climate crisis is hard to ignore, we are learning to cherish and protect nature. But is it the only possible way to see things? If it were, we would not be in this dark place right now. Dr Grant Matthew Rosson, an associate professor at Vilnius University, demonstrated how the American 19th-century poetry shows the drastic change in perception of nature that occurred within a short period of a few decades.
What will the books reveal?
As a part of the Anglistikos Akademija project, Dr Grant Matthew Rosson delivered a presentation titled “From Peril to Poetry: The Many Faces of Nature in American Literature”. In his short but concise lecture, Dr Rosson explained that the current view of nature is of a place for recreation and inspiration. We value nature for its beauty and appreciate its fragility. However, it has not always been the case.
‘The literary record tells us a different story about views of nature. Going all the way back to the earliest American novels, poems, and travel writings, we can see many different phases of nature. By digging, like an archaeologist, into books like this, we can uncover attitudes toward nature that differ dramatically from our own. And we can see patterns that tell us a story of both who we are now and who we have been in the past,’ says Dr Rosson.
Love from a distance
Washington Irving, the first professional American writer, praises American lakes and valleys, claiming that “never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery”. At first, it seems that Irving’s view on nature does not differ from the contemporary one, but then he brings up a comparison between America and Europe, in which Europe is “rich in the accumulated treasures of age” that America yet lacks. Irving values nature as scenery, the place to be looked at from a distance. The writer sees nature as something that needs to be conquered, tamed, organized, and brought under control, as was done in Europe.
Love and abuse
American educator and Protestant minister Timothy Dwight shares similar views. In his poem “The Flourishing Village” (1794), Dwight links “peace”, “pleasure,” and “beauty” to “the voice of Industry”, “the ploughboy’s voice”, and “the woodman’s axe”. The poet celebrates not the sounds of nature, but the sounds of hard work, of nature being transformed by the hands of men. Similar to his contemporaries, Dwight does not recognize nature as a limited resource. America, in its vastness, seemed to provide limitless possibilities. The destruction of nature, which nowadays would be seen as a tragedy, was perceived as progress by the early 19th-century Americans.
Naked love
The shift in perspective occurs in the second half of the 19th century. Walt Whitman in his “Song of Myself” (1855) writes: “I will go to the bank by the wood, and become undisguised and naked; / I am mad for it to be in contact with me”. This new view on nature is no longer instrumental. Whitman treasures nature not for its economic potential but for what it is. The poet seeks contact with nature, presenting himself as “naked” or unarmed. This nakedness signifies that nature is no longer seen as a danger to be tamed or destroyed.
Unspeakable love
Later, Emily Dickinson expresses an even more sophisticated view of nature. In her poem “‘Nature’ is what we see”, all attempts to define the word “nature” fail. Dickinson writes: “Nature is what we know — / Yet have no art to say —”. Dickinson’s nature is complex, precious, and mystifying.
‘What the literary record charts is a dramatic shift in attitudes toward American nature. So in just about 50 years, we have gone from nature being something to run away from, something that we are uncertain of and fearful of, to something that we are curious about, that we struggle to define,’ concludes Dr Rosson.