Daily Archives: October 15, 2012

The River of Life

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I would like to talk about a short passage from Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau. At the tail end of the chapter “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, Thoreau talks about the relevance of time and the value of intellect as we see it. I gave my first attempt at close reading on my own and this is what I came up with.

In the beginning of the paragraph, Thoreau starts by writing, “Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.” Thoreau compares our perception of time to the flowing water of a stream, unidirectional and never repeating itself. Each glance at the moving water in a stream offers a unique visual image that can be recalled from our memory, but never duplicated exactly. Similarly, our perception of time causes continual change which prevents us from recreating the past, forcing us to rely on memories to revisit those past moments.

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Nature’s Influence on Man

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American colonists arriving in these shores brought with them ideas of individual liberty and the natural right of property. If you worked hard and put in the time, the thinking goes, you were entitled to the fruits of your own labor. Crevecoeur sketches a convincing tableau that incorporates these philosophies into 18th century life in the New World. Instead of being given dominion over untamed land, the early settlers had to work to push back the woods and make the soil productive. At the same time, however, they were influenced by their surroundings to the point that even man’s basic humanity was at risk. Unlike the earlier Rowlandson, who writes of her stoic stand against wilderness that is enabled by the grace of God, Crevecoeur’s letters suggest that man’s interaction with nature works both ways.

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The Awakening Hour

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“Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself” (Thoreau 63).

In this paragraph, Thoreau describes his early morning bathing ritual in the pond. Referring to this as a religious exercise, he said that bathing in the pond each morning was one of the best things he did while living in Nature.

“Renew thyself completely each day; do it again, and again, and forever again” (Confucius, The Great Learning).

While living in Nature, Thoreau was able to connect with the environment in ways that many people have never or will never experience. After living by the labor of only his hands for two years and two months, Thoreau was able to understand what Confucius meant by “renew thyself completely each day.” This can be interpreted both symbolically and physically. A bath is a physical renewal of oneself each morning. One is washed, clean and ready to start the day. It is also a symbolic renewal of oneself each morning. In this awakening hour one must renew his or herself to prepare for the day that lies ahead.

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The Steel Horse and his Master (Thoreau)

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On page 82 of Thoreau’s book “Walden Civil Disobedience”, he writes a passage about the train that regularly passes by his home near Walden Pond. He begins by comparing the passing of the train to a sunrise. Usually, a sunrise is seen as something glorious, such as the start of a new day, or hope for the future. Some would even go as far and call it sublime. But Thoreau’s use of the word was quite the opposite. In his exact words, he stated: “I watched the passage of the morning cars with the same feeling that I do the rising sun, which is hardly more regular.” (Thoreau, p.82). What he means by this is that a sunrise is common, much like the roaring train that disturbs his quiet solitude almost every morning. It’s part of his daily ritual to see the sun rise and watch the train haul by with a cargo of passengers and merchandise.

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