Nature is part of our everyday life. It can be from a tree on the sidewalk to the endless sky above us. There are countless interactions between society and nature, whether it is going to a park full of greenness or simply looking at some flowers while passing by. Even though these interactions exist, some of us overlook and neglect the existence of the various forms of nature in our daily life. However, there are those that still aim to appreciate nature and to be appreciated by it. Sylvia Plath’s poem, “I Am Vertical,” and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s piece, “Nature,” argue that we can truly understand and communicate with nature only after letting go of our past. Although both pieces deal with the narrator’s connection with nature, the way that the two authors view nature and the way that the two authors let go of their pasts are significantly different. Plath tries to express her desire to escape to nature. By comparing the two texts, we can conclude that Emerson’s piece helps readers understand why Plath is trying to escape from- society. In addition to helping readers understand Plath’s piece, he is also trying to encourage people to pause in their actions in society to take a look at the natural occurrences around them and appreciate nature.
In order to start trying to be one with nature and completely understand it, Plath and Emerson argue that the person who is trying to do so has to distance and isolate themself from society and the rest of the world by letting themself go. Although the two authors share the common idea that this is necessary to create a connection with the natural world, they approach it in a different way. In Emerson’s argument, a person would have to distance him or herself mentally. No matter the place, a person should take some time to forget everything and look at the distant stars. He refers to the stars, as “though always present, they are inaccessible.” The distant stars that we walk under at night are part of nature that we easily ignore and take for granted. Emerson is telling the readers that if someone wants to be in consensus with nature, he or she would have to take the time to stop and notice these aspects that would normally be ignored because of the distractions from society. Plath’s argument is more extreme and she takes it into the physical state of a person as well. In her poem, the narrator was already emotionally distant from the world when she expresses her desires to be one with nature. The poem starts off with her comparing herself to a tree. At the end of the poem, she says, “Thoughts gone dim. It is more natural to me, lying down… And I shall be useful when I lie down finally.” In these lines, not only is she letting her thoughts go to empty her mind, but also she is letting herself fall to death.
By rushing to her death in order to assimilate with nature, Plath is showing her desire to quickly escape from the confines of society. From the beginning of the poem, she states her desires to be horizontal rather than vertical. To be vertical is to be a complex being in an advanced society. Being horizontal is a natural position of a human being. It also shows her going against the social norms. Men, by nature, would prefer to be vertical because of the superiority associated with it. However, in Plath’s case, she defies social norms by preferring to be horizontal. By being horizontal one last time, it symbolizes her nearing death. This also shows how she goes against the norms. Men have a natural instinct to survive and live as opposed to her wanting to die in order to be with nature. The idea of society playing a role in accepting nature is more evident in Emerson’s piece. He is currently in the middle of society. Unlike Plath, he isn’t trying to scape from society. Instead, he tries to appreciate nature as it is by isolating his mind from the ideas in society. Similar to Plath, he also defies social norms. In a developed society, most people do not notice the nature around them. Even if they walk by a tree, although they process that information in their heads, they do not think about it. They certainly do not stop and admire the tree. They simply accept the fact that the tree is there and take that fact for granted. He is going against the ideas of society by stopping and actually taking a look around for components of nature. By taking the time to block out the ideas of society and look at the sky where the stars are located, he is taking a step towards appreciating the existence of them thus appreciating nature. The first line of Emerson’s, “Nature,” is “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society.” Not only does accepting nature require distancing himself from society, it also requires him to distance himself from everyone else.
By distancing himself, Emerson sees nature as it really is. In his piece, he claims that humans are the ones that complicate nature and manipulate it. He condemns adults for this act. He encourages adults to see nature through the non-judgmental eyes of children. Instead of analyzing and creating personalities for the various trees, flowers, and other forms of nature, children simply look at nature and accept it as it is. In Plath’s poem, she complicates her view on nature by comparing herself to it. Instead of admiring it and seeing it for what it is, she is comparing how she is different from nature but is still yearning to be a part of it. In addition, Plath gives the trees and flowers character when she describes them not noticing her as she walks by. Instead of simply looking at them, she is thinking into it and manipulating it into an image she sees and believes.
Through isolating and distancing themselves from society and the world, Plath and Emerson see nature clearly and is able to communicate with nature. However, there is a contrast in their views. Whether she is living or dead, she focuses her life in becoming part of nature. However, she couldn’t truly communicate with it until she loses herself through death. In the end of the poem, she says, “Then the sky and I are in open conversation, And I shall be useful when I lie down finally; Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time with me.” This shows her finally succeeding in being accepted by nature. Plath and Emerson acknowledge nature and are acknowledged by it. In Emerson’s piece, he writes, “I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them.” By nodding to each other, Emerson and the nature around him reaches a balance and a mutual agreement.