IN
PRAISE OF NATURE
It is impossible for even an ordinary, uneducated man not to
be impressed by the beauty of nature. The English poet John Keats (1795-1821)
says in the beginning of his poem Endymion
:
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Its loveliness
increases. It will never pass into nothingness; but will keep a bower quiet for
us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. Therefore,
on every morrow, we are wreathing a flowery band to bind us to the earth, spite
of despondence, of the inhuman dearth of noble natures, of the gloomy days, of
all unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways made for our searching: yes, in spite of
all, some shape of beauty moves away the pall from our dark spirits.
To the question where do we find such shapes of beauty, he
mentions the sun, the moon, trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon for
simple sheep; such as daffodils with the green world they live in; and clear
rills that for themselves a cooling covert make ‘gainst the hot season; the mid
forest brake, rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms.
Keats is not a famous lover of nature like William Wordsworth (1770-1850) whose deep love for the beauteous
forms of the natural world began even when he was a child. The extract given
above is particularly in praise of nature.
Before conclusion, here is a good quote from the writings of
the German philologist and statesman Karl Wilhelm Humboldt ( 1767-1835) :
Natural objects themselves, even when they make no claim to beauty, excite the
feelings, and occupy the imagination. Nature pleases, attracts, delights,
merely because it is nature. We recognize in it an infinite power.
**********
G.R.Kanwal
23 August 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment