Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s attitude towards nature is very explicit in this passage. He not only lets the reader see that he is awed and delighted by it, but that he also enjoys it. He explores the differences between how adults see nature and the way children view it. Finally, he once again states his love of nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson was not only an excited writer of nature, but an enjoyer of its wonderful aspects as well. In his passage, Emerson states that "Within [the] plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years." With this, he means that there is such vastness and difference in nature that someone who visits it can’t possible think of how it could bore them. Its beauty is so wonderful that being bored is inconceivable to them. He states that "In the presence of nature a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows," to express that nature evokes happiness that even if they were to be under the worst imaginable circumstances, that happiness could not fade away. Of course, his enjoyment is expressed when he writes, "Crossing a bare common [park or grassy square], in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear." The strong imagery that he portrays with the puddles and clouded sky brings the reader closer to the image of nature that Emerson saw. Emerson also touches the fact that adults and children have very different views of the sun even though it is the same. He writes, "To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing," giving the reader the understanding that in their road to adultness, they have lost the connection with nature. However, children admire and enjoy the sun, seeing it in a different light than that