English Literature – Appreciation of the Beauties of Nature

Appreciation of the Beauties of Nature

There is appreciation for the beauties of nature in almost every Romantic work that we have read. The two works that I saw it the most in were “Nutting” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. These two works had very detailed descriptions of the beauties of nature, which really made you appreciate those beauties. Romantic writers such as Wordsworth and Irving really make you see how much they appreciate nature.

In “Nutting” there were many details of the beauties of nature. I think that the best example of this would have to be “More ragged than need was! O’er pathless rocks,Through beds of matted fern, and tangled thickets”. Even though Wordsworth was talking about how tough this stuff was making it to get through the woods he is using this to show his appreciation of these beauties of nature. I think he was probably doing the same thing in saying “Motley accoutrement, of power to smile At thorns, and brakes, and brambles,–and in truth”. These lines are also showing unpleasant things in nature that are also considered a beauty. Almost every line in Wordsworth’s “Nutting” describes some beauty of nature. I really like this because it was very descriptive and easy to read. I also really like nature and Wordsworth’s descriptions made me relate to some of things he was talking about. “Nutting” is a perfect example of how Romanticists expressed their appreciation of the beauties of nature.

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is also an excellent example of Romanticisms appreciation of the beauties of nature. There are many examples in this work that can make you actually picture what is being seen by the characters in the story. The best example of Irving’s appreciation of the beauties of nature was when Icabod went to Katrina Van Tassel’s house. Irving described her farm so well that almost any one could see what he was talking about. “Swallows and martins skimmed twittering about the eaves; an rows of pigeons, some with one eye turned up, as if watching the weather, some with their heads under their wings or buried in their bosoms, and others swelling, and cooing, and bowing about their dames, were enjoying the sunshine on the roof”, this is just one example of Irving’s descriptiveness of things in nature. Another example of Irving’s appreciation of the beauty of nature is when he said “His stronghold was situated on the banks of the Hudson, in one of those green, sheltered, fertile nooks in which the Dutch farmers are so fond of nestling.  A great elm tree spread its broad branches over it, at the foot of which bubbled up a spring of the softest and sweetest water, in a little well formed of a barrel.” With this descriptiveness you can almost taste how sweet the water was. He also makes you feel like you are sitting on the bank of the Hudson river. Irving also did a good job of describing the things in nature that Icabod was passing as he was on his way home from the Van Tassel’s house. Even though the things he was talking about had some superstitions to them such as Major Andre’s Tree which was really scary to Icabod in the dark, but would have probably been beautiful in the daylight. Before Icabod came upon Major Andre’s Tree, he had to cross Wiley’s Swamp which Irving described by saying “a small brook crossed the road, and ran into a marshy and thickly-wooded glen, known by the name of Wiley’s Swamp.” Irving definitely did a very excellent job describing the beauties of nature in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. He even made things in nature that looked bad at first look beautiful after he got done describing them. Irving went about Romanticism a lot different than most of the other Romanticists, but the one thing he really had in common was his appreciation for beauty in nature. I really think that it is funny that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was really supposed to be kind of scary story, but ended up showing a whole lot of beauty in all of the things that Irving described in this story.

Overall, Wordsworth’s “Nutting” and Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” both describe very well a lot of the beauties of nature. I think that they really represented romanticism very well. They were both very descriptive writers and what they wrote was very comprehendible. The style of both writers was really different with Wordsworth’s work being a poem and Irving’s work being more of a short story. They were both very well written and both really showed an appreciation for the beauty of nature. I really enjoyed reading both of these works because of all of the detailed descriptions of things in nature. “Nutting” Really reminded me of the days before deer season I spend out in the woods scouting out the area with the most oak trees that have the most acorns. I also could really relate to Icabod being spooked by things he was seeing and hearing in the dark on his way home from Katrina Van Tassel’s house. I have often heard some of the same sounds and saw some of the spooky shadows while walking through the woods in the dark as Icabod did. Wordsworth and Irving both did an excellent job in showing their appreciation in the beauties of nature. That is why I have to say that these were two excellent works of Literature.