Nature Writing through the Centuries

Each of these passages that we read had very different views of nature. The first one, which dates all the way back to 1620, writes about the nature of Cape Cod. He begins by talking of their journal on the ocean and how dangerous the ocean is, whereas the "firm and stable earth" is man's proper element. He thanks God for delivering them to the safety of land. Many times, God is thought to have the power not only to cause terrible, sublime nature, but also to protect man from nature and protect him from the awful power that he could cause. Another interesting quote in the passage was that they were happy to get out of the dangers "before night overtook them." This shows that the fear of nighttime in nature has long been present, even in the 1600s.

The second passage also demonstrates the power of God and praises God. "How excellent is He that dwells on high, Whose power and beauty by His works we know?" Anne Bradstreet attributes all of nature to God's awesome yet magical creation. "The more I looked, the more I grew amazed"..."No wonder some made thee a deity." It seems as though she is calling nature itself a god, which I find very interesting. She is not only saying that God created nature, but putting nature on the same pedestal as one puts a deity.

There is a big gap in the years between the next passages, from 1670 to 1928. This is very evident in the way this next story is written. In the previous passages, man has been afraid of nature and has put it on a pedestal. In this one however, the author is sleeping and living in nature and is almost trying to become one with nature. The night isn't portrayed as dangerous anymore, but rather peaceful. The author also tries to personify nature by mentioning the "ritual of the sun" and other human activities done by nature. The author also stressed that nature is always changing and being created. "Creation is here and now."

Henry Beston wrote in 1933 about his view of nature. He has a very different view from many other humans. "Only to the white men was nature a 'wilderness' and 'infested' with 'wild' animals and 'savage' people." He thought nature was tame. It was only when more humans started to come did it become "wild." This is a huge contrast to the usual view that it is animals that make something wild, not humans. This also showed me that a person's definition of nature and wild and all the definitions we wrote the first day of class would change drastically depending on where a person was from and what their background was.

Edward Abbey then writes and shows that nature can be beautiful in many forms. Some thinks that a lovely barren desert is beautiful, while others could not stand the thought of ever living there and instead need a blooming garden state. "If you had more water, more people could live here." The rest of the passage goes on to describe details on what to do if you are lost and alone in the middle of the desert. You could either find water and somehow survive, or you could find no water, and write your will in the sand and die. This passage talks about the desert as a "land of surprises, some of them terrible surprises. Terrible as derived from terror." Even in 1968, people still think of nature as a terrible thing of which humans have very little control over. You can search and search for water as long as you can, but there is always the possibility that you will not find it.

The last passage is the most recent, written only 3 years ago. It compares a desert to drugs and booze. When you are in a desert, there is "nothing left but the senses," and time goes in slow motion. It talks about the power of nature. In the earlier passages, nature was something to be feared. However, as the years went on, it seems as though nature has become more appreciated for its beauty, not only its terror.