For many, questioning their place and value in the natural world is a common thought. Today, we attribute that that philosophic endeavor to environmental theory. This branch of philosophy is centered on defining the true value and aesthetic significance of earthly nature. Beginning in the Romantic era of the early 19th century, this movement developed as a result of environmental concerns of the industrial revolution. This inspired poetically personal contemplations on the human environmental experience, even though this period is often considered incompatible with the natural sciences. This contradiction, which contrasts the romantic concept of utilizing the natural world, both meditatively and aesthetically, to explore and extend the bounds
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He describes the transcendental experience of being completely emerged in the natural world using both a detailed topographic description and redolent language. Using the highest and largest mountain of the Alps as a symbol for not only the immense power of nature but also the exalted state of sublimity it inspires, Shelley encourages the reader to see the hidden spiritual world within the physical one. Right from the start of the poem, Shelly proclaims an outlook evocative of environmental theory: “The everlasting universe of things/Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves,/Now dark – now glittering – now reflecting gloom –/Now lending splendour, where from secret springs/The source of human thought its tribute brings/Of waters” (1-6). Shelley’s speaker ponders the contrast between human thought and Mont Blanc, claiming the former gains its brilliance only through the latter’s majesty. In this first stanza, the speaker describes his interaction with the physical universe using undertones of mystery that ultimately lay the foundation for the conclusions realized later in the poem. By framing it as such, he is taking the imperceptible spiritual universe, making it concrete and easy to …show more content…
Shelley’s speaker remarks on a decision humanity resolve: either we embrace the physical directive of the natural universe – transcend into the spiritual world – or live in disbelief that’s drenched in doubt, ultimately leading to the inevitable because “All things that move and breathe with toil and sound/Are born and die; revolve, subside, and swell./Power dwells apart in its tranquillity,” (94-96). This conflict persists into the final stanza where Shelly completes the transition into the spiritual world. He reminds the reader that “The secret Strength of things/Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome/Of Heaven is as a law, inhabits [Mont Blanc]”, (139-141), while also raising the question “And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea,/If to the human mind 's imaginings/Silence and solitude were vacancy?” (142-144). Now, this notion of “Silence and solitude and vacancy” is a concept Shelly believes only affects the human condition, however this “vacancy” we are deceived into perceiving is simply a result of the “human mind’s imaginings”, most of which limit our ability to push our consciousness into sublimity and the spiritual world unless we surrender to the true Power of the everlasting physical universe that will persist long after our affair with
He describes the transcendental experience of being completely emerged in the natural world using both a detailed topographic description and redolent language. Using the highest and largest mountain of the Alps as a symbol for not only the immense power of nature but also the exalted state of sublimity it inspires, Shelley encourages the reader to see the hidden spiritual world within the physical one. Right from the start of the poem, Shelly proclaims an outlook evocative of environmental theory: “The everlasting universe of things/Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves,/Now dark – now glittering – now reflecting gloom –/Now lending splendour, where from secret springs/The source of human thought its tribute brings/Of waters” (1-6). Shelley’s speaker ponders the contrast between human thought and Mont Blanc, claiming the former gains its brilliance only through the latter’s majesty. In this first stanza, the speaker describes his interaction with the physical universe using undertones of mystery that ultimately lay the foundation for the conclusions realized later in the poem. By framing it as such, he is taking the imperceptible spiritual universe, making it concrete and easy to …show more content…
Shelley’s speaker remarks on a decision humanity resolve: either we embrace the physical directive of the natural universe – transcend into the spiritual world – or live in disbelief that’s drenched in doubt, ultimately leading to the inevitable because “All things that move and breathe with toil and sound/Are born and die; revolve, subside, and swell./Power dwells apart in its tranquillity,” (94-96). This conflict persists into the final stanza where Shelly completes the transition into the spiritual world. He reminds the reader that “The secret Strength of things/Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome/Of Heaven is as a law, inhabits [Mont Blanc]”, (139-141), while also raising the question “And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea,/If to the human mind 's imaginings/Silence and solitude were vacancy?” (142-144). Now, this notion of “Silence and solitude and vacancy” is a concept Shelly believes only affects the human condition, however this “vacancy” we are deceived into perceiving is simply a result of the “human mind’s imaginings”, most of which limit our ability to push our consciousness into sublimity and the spiritual world unless we surrender to the true Power of the everlasting physical universe that will persist long after our affair with