Woodnotes

Emerson's poem:
From WOODNOTES, I


And such I knew, a forest seer,
A minstrel of the natural year, Forteller of the vernal ides,
Wise harbringer of spheres and tides,
A lover true, who knew by heart
Each joy the mountain dales impart; 5
It seemed that Nature could not raise
A plant in any secret place,
In quaking bog, on snowy hill,
Beneath the grass that shades the rill,
Under the snow, between the rocks, 10
In damp fields known to bird and fox,
But he would come in the very hour
It opedned in its virgin bower,
As if a sunbeam showed the place
And tell its long descended race. 15
It seemed as if the breezes brought him;
It seemed as if the sparrows taught him;
As if by secret sight he knew
Where, in far fields, the orchids grew.
Many haps fall in the field 20
Seldom seen by wishful eyes,
But all her shows did nature yeild,
To please and win this pilgrim wise.
He saw the partridge drum in the woods;
He heard the woodcocks evening hymn; 25
He found the tawny thrushes' broods;
And the shy sky hawk did wait for him;
What others did at distance hear,
And guessed within the thicket's gloom,
Was shown to this philosopher, 30
And at his bidding seemed to come.
1840


Jane's thoughts on the above:

After a couple of readings, this poem seems to me to be about the godliness in nature and the rewards attained through a quiet, reverent, patient approach to the natural world. The deification of objects such as "Nature" with a capital "n, " a sunbeam spotlit "virgin bower," and the song of the woodcock as "hymn," recalls the Blakean sentiment that God should not be sought out in a bible or a building, but in the world in us and around us.This "forest seer" might represent the supreme naturalist, or perhaps what Emerson aspires to. The patient "minstrel" moving though the woods with the wisdom of a meteorologist ("forteller of the vernal ides"), the know-how of an astronomer ("wise harbinger of spheres and tides"), and the perception of a botanist ("Nature could not raise a plant in any secret place") exhibits the attitude that allows one entry into the forest's secret hemispheres. One might take the moral of this poem, situated in the final four lines, to be that if you have this reverence, patience, stealth, and wonder, you may be invited to gaze upon nature's hidden treasures instead of only imagining their whereabouts and having only theories to hold onto.