Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nature

Early Trials
• Father passes away at age 8 and Emerson is left to support his four other brothers. • Ralph was asked to share a coat with his brother Edward to save finances. • Despite the hardships, all the Emerson boys, except one, graduated from Harvard University.
Late Life and Death
• Upset in the 1860s by thved a quiet life with his family. • His house burnt to the ground in 1872. • Died on April 27th, 1882.
• 但是他们都不能占有这片风景。只有诗人的双眼可以拥有这地平 线，这是他们农场中最可贵的，却无人能凭产权而据为己有。 • ④说真话，成年人难得看到自然本身。多数人看不到太阳，至少， 他们所见只是浮光略影。阳光只照亮了成人的双眼所见，却照进 儿童的眼睛和心灵深处。自然的热爱者，内向和外向的感觉尚能 和谐的相应，他尚能在成年时保有婴儿的心灵。与天地的交汇成 为必需，就如每日的食物一样。自然当前时，奔腾的喜悦传便他 全身，尽管可能他正身处现实的苦境。他是我的造物，抿灭他无 关紧要的悲伤，与我同在他应欢悦，自然向他如是说。不仅阳光 和夏天带来欢跃，四季的每一时分都奉献出愉悦；自然变化的每 一时晨无不如是。 从懊热的午后到漆黑的子夜，四季早晚的嬗 变对应并验证着人们不同的精神状态。自然既可是悲剧的，也可 以是喜剧的背景。身体康健时，空气就是让人难以置信的补剂甜 酿。越过空旷的公地，停留深雪潭边，注目晨昏曦微光芒，在满 布乌云的天空下，并非出于特别的当头好运，我享受了完美无缺 的欣喜。我欣喜以至有些胆怯。在树林里也是一样，人们抖落岁 月如蛇脱旧皮，无论身处生命的哪一阶段，都会心如孩童。在森 林中，有永恒的青春。在上帝的庄园里， 气派和圣洁是主宰， 四季的庆典准备就绪，客人们居此千年也不会厌倦。在森林里， 我们回归理性和信仰，在那里，任何不幸不会降临于我的生命， 没有任何屈辱和灾病-请留下我的双眼-是自然无法平复的。
在静谧的风景里尤其是在那遥远的地平线我们看到自然美丽有如我们美丽自身和本田野和树林带给我们心灵的巨大欢悦指说着人类和植物的隐密关连
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Ralph Waldo Emerson 拉尔夫· 沃尔多· 爱默生 (1803-1882)
组员：应英083班 李飞燕 李尤银 周 妍 罗健华 费静文
Introduction to Transcendental Thought
• In 1831 makes his first trip to England where he meets poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth who introduce him to Romantic notions of nature and philosophy.
• In Chapter One, Emerson elaborated the rich meaning of nature. In his eyes, nature was the embodiment of human spirits.
• “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society”. • He set up a claim to support self-cultivation and thought only when human beings were alone and stayed in solitude that their inherent talents could be brought to full play .
Famous Lecturer
• Emerson went on to become a famous lecturer sharing his transcendental philosophy throughout the country. Among his quotable phrases: • “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” • “To be great is to be misunderstood.”
COMMENTS:
• In his book, we can feel that he regarded nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature. Philosophically considered, Emerson thought that the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul. In addition, he paid much attention to the status and role of human beings as well.
Major Works
• • • • • • Nature (1836) The American Scholar (1837) Self-Reliance (1841) The Over-Soul (1841) Representative Men (1850) English Traits (1856)
• CHAPTER ONE 《自然》参考翻译： ①走入孤独，远离书斋，如同远离社会一样重要。纵然无人在我 身旁，当我读书或写作时，并非独处一隅。如果一个人渴望独处， 就请他注目于星辰吧。那从天界下行的光芒，使人们得以出离可 触摸的现世。可以这样说，我们假想，大气之所以透明，就是为 了让人们看到天国的灿烂光芒。从普通城市的街道向上看，它们 是如此深邃伟岸。假如星辰千年一现，人类关于上帝之城的记忆， 必将世代相传，为人们长久地信仰着，珍存着，崇拜着。然而， 每一晚，这些美的使者都会降临，以它们无可置疑的微笑，照亮 宇宙。 • ② 星辰唤醒心中的景仰，即使它们常在，也遥远而不可触摸； 而当思想敞开心门，自然景物总会留下熟稔而亲切的印迹。 自 然永无恶意可憎的容颜。如同大智慧者不会因穷尽自然的和谐底 蕴而失去对她的好奇之心。自然之于智慧的心灵绝非玩具。 花 朵，动物，群山，它们折射着智者思维的灵光，如同它们娱乐了 他纯真的童年。 • ③当我们这样谈论自然时，我们的心灵感觉，清晰独特，诗意盎 然。我们在感觉着多面的自然客体和谐完整的映像。正是这映像 区分了伐木工手中的圆木与诗人心中的树木。 今晨我看到那令 人愉悦的风景，它们无疑是由二十到三十个农场组成。 米勒拥 有这片地，洛克有那片，而曼宁是那片树林的主人。
• This was a famous sentence which illustrated the harmony between nature and human beings. This thought was the main part of romanticism and the key point of the book Nature. Nature always wore the colors of the spirit. Moreover, nature was the symbol of spirit.
Emerson’s Early Life
• Born on Election Day in 1803 in Boston, MA. • Born on the same street as the birth home of Benjamin Franklin. • Father was a famous minister who encouraged young Ralph to pursue philosophy at a young age.
• His poems appeared in 1847.
• He believed in individualism, independence of mind, and selfreliance. • In 1836, his first work, Nature (《论自 然》) was published , which epitomized the main doctrines of his philosophy, his theories and his belief in the progress of man and society.
Teacher and Priest
• After graduation, Emerson became a school teacher in suburban Boston. • 1823 graduated from seminary school and became a priest to follow in the footsteps of his father.
• “Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.”
Transcendentalist Philosopher
Returns to Concord, MA in 1835 and writes his first important work Nature which describes how humans find God within nature: “In the woods is perpetual youth… In the woods we return to reason and faith.”
• 站在空旷大地之上，我的头脑沐浴于欢欣大气并升腾于无限空间， 一切卑劣的自高自大和自我中心消失无踪。我变成一个透明的眼 球，我化为乌有，我却遍览一切；宇宙精神的湍流环绕激荡着我。 我成为上帝的一部分，我是他的微粒。密友的名字听起来陌生而 无足轻重，兄弟，朋友，主人或仆从，这一切变得细碎而搅扰。 我是不受拘束永恒不朽自然之美的情人。与街市和村庄相比，在 旷野里，我体味到更亲切更可贵的实在。在静谧的风景里，尤其 是在那遥远的地平线，我们看到自然美丽有如我们美丽自身和本 性。 • ⑤田野和树林带给我们心灵的巨大欢悦，指说着人类和植物的隐 密关连。我并非独在而不受关注，植物向我颔首，我向它们点头。 风雨中树枝摇动对我是既新鲜又熟稔。它令我惊异又让我安然。 它们对于我的影响，就如同我确信自我思维妥贴所为正当时，全 身涌起的超越而高尚的感情。 • ⑥然而，可以肯定地说，这欢悦的力量不仅源于自然本身，它存 在于人，或者说，存在于自然和人的和谐中。要谨慎节制地享有 这种欢悦，这很重要。自然并不总悦人以节日盛装，昨日氤氲芬 芳晶亮悦目一如为林仙嬉乐而设的同一景致，今天就可能蒙上悲 伤的面纱。自然总是折射着观者的精神状态。对于在病痛中挣扎 的人，他自身散发的焦虑挣扎就涵容着悲伤。当爱友逝去时，人 们会对那风景感到些许漠然。当蓝天落幕于社会底层者眼前，它 的壮丽也会减色。