“Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson expresses what Emerson feels about the relationship between nature and mankind. He says that one can only see what nature truly is after being in complete isolation with nature. In nature, things can be perceived as spiritual such as the stars, which represent God or heavenly bodies. In addition, nature is not easily grasped and can’t be grasped through parts of it. People who can see nature as a whole are the poets in the world. Another point Emerson brings up is that if people allow themselves to be part of nature, they will feel peace with it and their inner selves, despite any conflicts they have been dealing with.

An interesting aspect of this piece is when Emerson says, “ The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child” in the second paragraph or the mention of the word “children.” He doesn’t explicitly say why he believes children truly know the meaning of nature and why adults have to have a child-like mind to know what nature profoundly means. I interpreted the view of children to mean the view of nature with a simple mind. Children usually live their lives spontaneously and look at things for how they simply appear to be. Maybe the author is trying to say that people have to view nature simply for what it is and not think too abstractly about it. This aspect makes readers wonder how profound is the difference between an adult’s mind and a child’s mind. Because of this aspect, everything I read after this quote related back to children and how nature is not easily perceived.

“To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society.” Ralph Waldo Emerson starts off this chapter by telling us how one can go into complete solitude. To Ralph Waldo Emerson, true solitude can be achieved when one goes out into nature and leaves behind all of his thoughts along with society. He also starts the chapter off by telling us of stars and how great they appear to the eyes of men. The stars are able to separate a man from “what he is touching,” which is the ground of the Earth. These stars should appear as great as they appear even a thousand years later according to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Ralph Waldo Emerson describes stars as present but inaccessible because in order to see stars, one needs to see it with the his/her “inward and outward senses” when they are “still truly adjusted to each other.” Nature needs to be seen with the simplicity of childhood. Therefore, most adults are unable to see nature in this way. But when nature is seen with the correct balance between senses, it offers youth and joy.