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Similarities Between Muir And Wordsworth's Relationship With Nature

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Henry David Thoreau once said, “It 's not what you look at that matters, it 's what you see.” William Wordsworth, the author of the poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, and John Muir, author of the essay The Calypso Borealis, have proved this in their works by looking at nature and portraying it differently but beautifully in each piece. They have been able to express their relationships with nature differently through choices about format, such as if a rhyme scheme will be used; their word choice, like choosing to give something a specific name; as well as through literary devices used, including tone, mood, and irony, but, even though they made many different choices, their works are both able to make nature seem beautiful and mysterious. …show more content…

I think the most noticeable difference in the two pieces is the tone and somewhat in mood. The atmosphere Muir creates in his essay evolves as it goes on. When he first begins describing his experience looking for the Calypso Borealis, he seems to be having a lot of trouble with his environment, causing him to see nature in a negative way and be fearful of it. This is demonstrated well in this quote from paragraph two where he says he was “struggling through tangled and drooping branches” However, after he sees the Calypso Borealis he completely changes his view on nature and seems to respect it more and enjoy being in it more than he did before. You can see this as early as paragraph one where he is reflecting on his time “botanising in glorious freedom”. Wordsworth, on the other hand, always has the same opinion on nature; he sees it as a beautiful force and as something to observe and not to interfere with. He demonstrates this when he describes nature such as “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” or when he talks about “sparkling waves of glee”. The way Muir describes nature and the fact that his point of view changes as he spends more time in it once again makes it seem like he sees nature more like an equal. He recognizes that just because it seemed dangerous at first, it does not necessarily mean that it is. It appears that he sees nature like a person or a companion more than like an outside force.

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