2.26.2008
The Springometer
Thoreau's Journal: 25-Feb-1859
Measure your health by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature,—if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you,—know that the morning and the spring of your life are past. Thus may you feel your pulse.
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17 comments:
I think Thoreau is trying to say that if you feel nothing from nature then there is no good for you in life. One must experience what God has given us to live life to the fullest. Everyone should experience nature and what it has to offer.
Thoreau wants people to realize that without nature there is nothing. Nature as so much to offer to us that if you don't take advantage of what it has you give you then you seriously need to rethink yourself. I think he might be implying that nature could ultimately be the spice of life.
Thoreau simply wants people to realize that there are different times in life for different things. At a point in time, you should be affected by Spring and nature, but at other times, the smell of a fire may call forth emotion. At this day in age, maybe a television show will call forth emotion. Everybody has their own stimuli at different points in life.
if one does not fully appreciate nature, then thoreau claims that they have not yet truly lived. Nature is everything around us if you are no able to enjoy its beauty your time in life has been wasted.
i can identify with this journal entry of Thoreau's so well. I love nature with a passion and if one morning i woke up and was not awed by nature i would need to make sure something was not wrong with me.
Thoreau is saying that by comparing your initial reaction to an occurrence in nature, you can determine things about yourself. If the idea of a morning walk does not instantly wake you up, then you know that you are getting older and are no longer responsive to the things found in Spring.
I really agree with what Thoreau is saying in this entry. I feel the same way about the morning and nature. People that do not wake up and feel fully alive confuse me. It seems like such a waste to spend your day either sleeping or being awake and acting like you are still asleep.
If you do not react the melting of snow and the blossoming of trees, Thoreau says that you have no blossoming in your own life left. Nature had such a profound impact on him, that he may be a little biased in this area. However, it is true that as each season arrives new emotions arise within all of us. Winter is sometimes depressing for people, while spring brings an attitude of hope.
Thoreau is talking about realizing where you are in life. Those that are young and happy with their lives tend more to notice the little things that make life so good, like the "warble of the first bluebird," as Thoreau said. Those that do not take enjoyment in these blessings are past the happiest years of their lives.
I believe thoreau is just tryin to get people to appreciate nature and what it has to offer. Nature not only provides the necessities and cravings of life, but also forms of entertainment such as beautiful scenery, and musical chirping of the birds.
I believe that Thoreau thought that one should feel the powers of nature during the spring. If one can no longer feel the power, then one's life is coming to a close.
Thoreau believed largely in the individual's inner connection with nature, so it makes sense that he believes that one's well being is contingent upon the extent of that connection. If someone wakes up and does not feel invigorated or moved by nature, his own peace, serenity, and well being is currently at a low point. People can measure their "pulse" by examining their current sympathy with nature.
Thoreau feels that if one does not feel the effect of nature on his or her life then it is not worth living. This journal entry ties into Thoreau’s symbolism of the life in spring and the death in winter.
Nature is something meant to be a stimuli in our lives. Thoreau connects with nature and feels that he is closest with reality when he is with nature. When we see nature, we should be assured that the good life exists. Thoreau is warning us against becoming jaded to the sublimity of nature. When we stop reacting to nature, the prime of our life has past.
As e transcendentalist thoreau believes nature is inside all of us. He believes that through nature we can find our inner self. This is why he stayed for such a long time at Walden pond. He was attempting to find himself by basing his life on the nature around him.
To me, this passage says that if you are not excited about the mornings, or the beginning of your life, that you are then at the middle or end of your life. That is why he says that you might feel your pulse, because your heart has gotten older and you may be hearing the ticking of time constantly and that you are becoming more and more aware of the fact that your life is almost over.
What I hear Thoreau saying is that if nature does not make you feel alive and happy then you know the days that your mind was young are now gone. Thoreau is saying that age is in your mind and you can somewhat control your age by the way that you live your life.
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