a cr!l'ic 'l -...
TRANSCRIPT
A CR!l'IC 'L 1)1:\: TH!J:'!rTIC ST:,my OF WALpE~.
( FRCX~ C!:c,P'I'ER XIII TO CHJ\Pl'ER XVIII)
If the cth;\pt(er on 11 Brute Neighbours" be1on 'S
to Thoureau's sunmer experiences, then the chapter on
"House warming" gives his preparation for the anyat~.g
mentation of winter. In this chapter be is seen
·atherlng autumn fruits and building his chimney and when
winter fin0lly sets 1n1 his life begins to grow inward •
He is confronted with the problem of keeping his
vital heat auv .. his fdth is now his problem. In
regard to his cotta e Thor~:PU wr1 tes :
My 4wellinr; was Sl!l8ll, and I could hardl.y entertain en echo in 1 t; but 1 t seeme1J larger for being a single apertment and remote from nei:;hbours. All the attractions of a house were eoncentratad in one room; 1t Wr>s kitche>,~ chamber, parlour, and keeping room ; end what-ever s<~tisfaction parent or child, mast&r or servant, derive i'l'Olll living in a house, I enjoyed it all. 1
Thore~u's one-room apartl'llent g;>ve him a sense of
belongine as he hed himself built it by his ~aenual labour,
Durinr, the autumn, he ~~ent on makin;', 1 t fit for the dnteJ
In cold countries. a fire place is a must in the room
•• 173 ••
where one pesses most of his tille keeping the fire
alive is o nort of TJ.t:u.'ll l'lnd keeps two house warm.
But for t'"e soke of econoll)'1 Thorenu kept e stone
rather thr·n hnv!n::" an open fire place. In these (:oya
of store nwJ cuoki~ tt,as, people have forgotten the
advanta:":es of an opr-·n fire place. Besides g;iv1n;~ warmth
to the occupr·nt of the hou:::e, 1 t ~l.so provide& him
CO!npr·ny. n '£he labourer, looltin". into it at evenin;:,,
ruri:fies !'>.is ti1ou,hts of the dross and earthiness
wblch they lleve acc.\.t!lulatr d durine the day • 112 Thus with
out havin;~ an advan'tage o! a fire place. Thore;o,u had
prepered himself for the cOd!~~ of winter.
In " Former Inhebitant.s• and winter visitors",
the chapter that immediately .follows " House warming,"
Thoreau describes his longest periOd of solitude• when
he had the fewest visitors and wben his life was reduced
to a routine. He writes a'baut himself that the maste.r
of the house was at bmle but the 1V1s1ter'3 never came.
not even !rom the town. It was the time o:f thOUiiht and
memory, of his Cai!Diunion with the former 1nhnbi tants of
the pond whose lives introduced the possibility of
failure. It was a sleepy time, reminding him of n that
winter that I laboured with let~1 "4 falling asleep
over " Goudibr- rt"5 a time when he lulled him3elt to
sleep with reminiscences, when like the owl, he a:le>ited
" the dawninr; of ·:is day:'6 And it W<•s the proper time :tor
•• 174 ••
conddering triend.eh.1p u a ..- apiri tual neceslli ty-
-not those friendships of his youth, those comp!Ulions
of his exte.ftlal Ufe, but those compnnions of his
thour:·~te whose diec,>urse s\.llll'lloned• *he old settler•
nnd expnncled and racket:' my little house •••• 11 7
11r. TrJOreau describes there were onl/ a few
visitors durin· thnt lon.:, period of 1dnter when the
path to \ialden pond was covered witn snow. But there
was one as he writes :
The one who ca'lle from farthest to my lodr:e, throw h deepest an01~s and most dismal tempeats1 was a 90et.B
This poet friend of '1'horeau was Ellerty channing
whose love fo~~s hermit friend was so r;reat that even
the be.zards of wea. ther did not deter him i'!:Cmvisi ting
h.1m. 11 .'t farner , a hunter, a soldier, a rei}orter, even a
philosopher may be deunted; but nothing con deter a
poet, for he ts actuated by pure love. 119 fhe solitary
lla.'tll comp;-:ny of the t-rmit and the poet made that
small cottae;e rin-; with boisterous mirth and resound
with the mumer of much sober talk. m"king amends then to
Walden vale for the lonr silences.
In n Uintl:!r Animel.s 111 Thoreau gh es an account
of the wtld life around Halden ?ond And \iplden Wood~-.
He speaks with nostal~ia of former time$ when bear,
aoose, deer, wildoata and other animals abounded in the
•• 115 ••
township o! Concord. ot the animals whoee species are
•till left, h~ writes :
T.t is hardly as if you had seen e wild creature when a rabbit or a pe.l"tri~e burata rt<Je.y, only a natural one.10
This lament of tne author is further elaborated
in one of ius Journal entries two years after 1-ial.df:n was
compl.$ted s
I spend a ccnsiderr>ble portion ot my time obset'v1ng the habits of the wild aniaals, my brute nei;>;hbours. By thc>ir 'Jarious IIIOvemente :;,nd migrations they fetch the year about to me ••• •• But when I oonsider that the nobler andnk~ls have been extermlnat here, -the cougar panthel", lynse, wolverene, wolf, bear, moose, deer, the beaver, the turkey, ete._,etc •. , -I cnnnot but feel as if I liveLin a tamed and, as it were1 emasculated country. Would not the motions of those larger and wilder animals have been illOl't! siGnificant still ? • • • • ! 3m reminded that this my life in nature. thia particular round o.f natural phenomenon whleh I cal1.a yenr, is lamentably i<.'leomplete.1 i
By living at. \1! rcalden Pcmd, Tl:lreR'..l had not only cultivated intimacy with cnimals but had realized the one·
ness of l.i:fe. He could find the amiab!li ty in the animal
world which made hilll to befriend his brute neighbours. He
abnored huntin.i and clhenever th< news came that a lynx had
been killed .1n the nearby Carlisle, Thoreau was t!'le first
to reach on the spot. So deep was ~is sympa t!ly for his brute
nei.~;hbours. And as such the chapter on " \linter Animals" has
become syml.>ol.ic of ·J:horeau 1 s loYe for the wild ll!e. His
•• 176 ••
intiaate contact wlth Nature et Walden Pond end Wild life
in the nei :hbOurinl~: woods ll!f1do him s-.alize the unity of
ll!e w''ich Nature so sacredly preserves for all its children
Thoreau hAs attribute<i uym'bol!e llleRnings to some
of the birds. J.'he hawk is a symbol for the poet and ao is
the thru.<Jh, in a compl.,mentary sense. In one,wildxJess stnnds
for Lbe treodom of genius, in the other tor untamed lyric
beeuty. /UJonc nearly three -score refer~nce& to the thrush
in his Journab_, several are particularly relevant t
" All tbr>t wc:s dpeE>t f~:irest in the: w1~<1n~1ss
and the tdlt~ man is preserved and transrr.itted to us in the
strain of the weed thrush. It is the rr:e<'iator batw<?en barbaris:
and civilization •••••• This is the only bird wr~se note
effects me like music, effects t:he flow and tenor of my
thought, my f:::::eJ and ima:· inati.on. •••. The thrc>.sh alone
declares tb~ i!rm;ortal ">'~'elth and ·vi::;or that is in the forest
Here is a bird in 'lllhose atr:::in the story iS told• though
Nature waited !cr the science of aesthetics to discover it
to men. \;henever a man hears it, he is young, and :Nature is
in her spri118• lihenever a man he~rs it, it 1s a new world
end a free country, and the ::at-. ·s of heaven are not s 1.1ut agdns
him."12
Here is the generalized ideA of the wild beauty
of the sinaer to 1'1 t ~Y poet. I
There nre othrcr a::;pecta of ti-Je thrush that melee
it e•eeificnlly suitable to ThoreAu. He 1e convinced that
there 1~ no r-uch n lm.,vploreci . ildness• in the nl htine;ale,
a bird which ne bad never hearu but which he knew as emble
mat1c of ti·:>' :\om:-.ntic poet, as in keats' greet ode. His prefere
ence fer tJ·,.:, thr'Ut>h im?lies s~et'lin;~ :far ,.,yond mure bird
son~. He ~~l~rfes t
l doubt if they hnve anythirl!! so richly tdld in "~urope, .it will o:.ily be beard in A!:1eriea, perchance, wh.tl(' our star is in in the ascendant • • • • • • • • • 1:hy, tlwr, Wl'ls I bern in America ? I might ask.13
He er~ere his own question, in a later Journal
entry, toot he 'llt'O i~~ to sine. just sucb I'\ ne;.1 native son2:.
The .AMerican ti1rush is .-tot ''hlY remote from J:>:tu'ope but remote
from its OWn C!'iti,;a, \~i1<)3C CUlture is still too d•;-;r;i. ·ative
o:t' the old worB. 'i?h!!'re e2n b<; Uttle doubt t>:at ?hreau h~s
himself in mind when he writeo.'. :
'l:hf:- tree po,~t wi11 ever live :::loci' frihm wild to 1 t, a.s tite fine$t singer !s the ±1'-l'Ueh, a .forest bird.'l4
society, WOOd
The- t;'!'U.Sh m~:kc"s i t..s e,;> ~-!'!<:.'::'<:me a ae·,;eral times
in t~ill.o~n. ) once si::ru-.f!c::-ntly L"l connt~tion with the taru;:-;er.
Listininc t.be ao."Vtu·rtages of wr..ere he hall chosen to live , 'm
airy ce!Jin in the woods above tte r.-onrl, he says he has caged
himself nearer to the birds, espec18lly" those wilder and
more thrillin;z sone;sters of tl:e forest which never or > rF~rely
' serenage a villager,.. .._the -:;ood t"hru:;h, ...... the scarlet
tanager.• 15 This links the \tildernes,:,; beauty of eolour to
•• 1-ro ••
tl111t of soun 1. The two in combination mRkef a mcomorn'ble
paf113Afe in the Journnl on n Mt::y ~en!ng in 1853 I
At Lorin.'' s \.' ood heerCI and saw a ter>..eger. Thnt ('·mtt·:•"!t o/ .... ':'flcl biNi -with the r,reen _,inPs ond the blue :;ky 1 t<;ven Whf-!:1 I hovp heard \1is note and look for ll.111l 11nd :find the bloody tello1~ 1 sit~ing vn :1 t!!l'ad twi:· of t• p1r.,-, , I am al•11nys stnrted. •• • Th"t 1ncrer1thl•' rNl 1 vl!tn the cccl"'l'l "ln-:1. blue os lf ·~~:ere \~h:l•e the trinity we Wlelnte:~ •••••• I M t!'Rn"'l>Or'tad c these a&"e not the woodS l ordinarily ·.-;r·1l: in. t;'" .~un){ Conno1·d in hi~> tf'.OU.cl'lt• r'.owhe enh:'lncee toP w ill.;l!'lf'ns anc we:~lth an:;i weal:t.h 01 wo:~J::. l •••••• r lc··.ve- ?-r>- :~sed tll<~' Rat•1I~OY.'.I of st1.a ;1n.. out. .1. have eaid to a.yst~U:. ti::•t t~f;i is .r.::·~ t;,-rr-e,·:.r: ; J. wU.l · .. ander· further ff'Oiill whnt I have cr·lled my home - to the home which is forever invHin · me. In such an hour the freedOm of wooos is offered me, and the.: birds sing my dispensation.1G
'l'his is indeed an artist's Paradise his go<.i.s
a trini.t~, of colours , bird soJ;gs bis dispensation. It is a
new re1Lion. a re-orderin · of the world under the divine
eutbority of the poet.
to <>:i v j.nr; a U.rml comment on • l(
Winter AhilftB1E:"• it may be steted t}tat this and the succeeding
chapter antiobates tho spri.!l,~, taking tip solitude, the
resources of the natural scene, sounds, am! tl1e pond only
in a differeent nood. In this chapter the catalogue of
soun<!:> and nnimnl3 conveys a scene of impoverisrsent- the
wilder anim~=:ls hunted in former times are t•.one ancl 'H'f} no
more in the woods. Probably some of the species (here anim:-·ls)
bave Mcoi!De extinct because of man's cruelty on them and his
sport of huntin~. 'rhe whoopin pond has [~one to sle"P• The
fox 1a seekin;: " expression 1117 and is strugging !or "li ht_!1~
•• 17! ••
t· e btr: tl•: of n :uirrul~ rvl' 1 r.~tce hr>ve awnkeri4d hia. ttl 1D:
If it he to o >erk or br~ve:·y lm''er duress, t''r-re ''rc ~~·ill
the hc·rdy j:·y:-; rm·· o;·JiCkP.deca, the le-,n but vl~;orou.'l on.1
elost1o hl:'refl f.,··in ti.e ht.lzr:rds o! cold nnd chilly winter. II 0 \9
The brfl·, e bi.rd t-l-J.e pnrtrid .e is not to be s,.,cre· · by winter '
In " '1 ho Pond in \,inter." however, Thoreau h~<S
tried to develop the> t\'eme of loss ~mt could not do it well
Of c::urse he coull'! not 0nB.-ccr this question in
his alte:;>, for it was the question of life itself which
only wakin(-c would a.ns1ver. And therefOl'e he went on~
But there was d.:clWnin ·_ N.-<Jture1 in whom nll creatures live, lookin- in 1-"tt my broad ·,,l:f.ndo;>s with scene ant'! st~tisfie.1 !r>ce and no question on her lips. I av1oke to an an<>wered question, to ~Jctvre pnd doyli~;ht.22
This awakenin_: '>'les the be~':innin;:', of his rebirth
of the pond, that reechec" the crescendo in «sprin·""• end
that served as the llvin:.o: testimony of his conclusion
--" only thnt dr.y d"wns to ~~!lich wo ere D\iPke. There
1::; mere d;:-.y to d01m. 'l'ho sun is but a mornin stnr. 1123
•• 180 ••
" Moral re!orm", he st~i<l 1·1l-:cn he f1rat fixed the meanin •
of •ornin-: one B'·'nkenln::," is tr.e effort to th%"0\·J off
slPep •••••••• To be aw~ke is to be alive• 24
He be:~" The .Pond in winter•, therefore, with
his mornin · work or ritunl 1 oln~ in search of water. Like
the winter fisherman, who were wise in natural love,
men of 11 real faith" who know where summer had treAted and
whose life was p0ssed " deeper in Nature then the studies
of t."le naturalist penetraten 25 Thoreau also cut his hole
in thrice; and if he W8S no lon~er a fisherman himself, he
could still glory in tre fabulous pic~erel of Walden_, end
find wh<>t w:>s more important to hill, that " its bright
sanded floor (was) the same as in summer. 11 26 He w~1s now
penetratin;-~ the deeps to find his faith, fathoming
n unceasingly 11 'Z7 as he wrote in his youth," for a bottom
that will hold an anchor, that it may not drag. 11 28 He
said he " was desirous to recover the lon(~ lost bo±t"'lll of
Walden ponrl"1 arr' he made it clear, by his verbal play on
"bottom" and 11 foundation" 29, that he was aeekin·:: his
foundation. The foundation of his faith as his survey of
the .~nd indiCated was the doctrine of correspondence; and
what he needed to prove again was the law thnt eueranteed
that the actual corresponded to the unseen reality. He
discovered the " general re,':ulari· y of the bottOII" and
what was aore surprisin,o; to him 1 " ita eontirm!ty to the
shores", a con.fomi ty" SiO perfect th3t a distant promontory
betrayed 1 tself in the soundinr:a quite ecro,:s the pond,
•• 181 ••
:•n·' it'l (itr•'ction coul" bl' 'eter'inl'd by obsei"rin t"'e
oppo~i te shor!". "30 lie l'll~o found 1 o his surprize tl 'nt "
the line of ~">'re'ltest lC'n,·th intersected the line of .. re~test
brendth exactly nt the polmt of ··~rentest ·'er>t!> ••••• 1131
This, he pointed to a r:ener11l lr>w 1 it a[l·)lied to ocr-rn,·. as
well flS po~s to motmt:•ins nnd V!"'lle·,s,to ea 1es ond br.rs_.._
" This rule •• •••........ io universal. "32 Thus he discover
ed 1('•:~ ond h:;rmony in nature, et the same time thnt he
realized anew th:· t truth -.vrJt ;)erspectivnl. " If we knov;
('11 the laws of NiJ.ture 11 , he wrote," We should ne(~d only one
fact •••••••• to infer All 1he pnrticular results at thGt
po: · t. 1133 But bee a. use 11 we knovv only a fe1:1 lc·1ve •••••••
our result is vitiated, not of course, by eny confusion or
irre· ularity in Nature. but by i ·norr-~nce of es~;entinl
elements in the enlculetion. i:lur notion.'> of law and hc·rnony
are co:n.lllOnly confined to tboso instances which we detect,
but tho harmony which results from a. tar greater number of
see!'lilr·:ly confl.ictin.:·:, but re'. lly concurrin, 1 lnws, <Jhieh
we have not detecte<:J, is still r:o~·e .,onderful."34
r"iore or less in 1 :-s general! ty, this law also
applies to m n, for " as there is no e:·:clusively physic,cl
nor e: c lusi vely morc>l 1·- '", this is as true in ethic;:; ,-,s * in Physics. • • • • • "35 " 'Cra,.,. lines th!'01Fh th·" len. ·tr:. <"llG b!'08<.-lo
th of the ae;•/re:;ate of a man'" particular dPily be~1<1viou-x:s
and waves o:.· life into ris coves Pnd inlets, " he su . 'ested,
•• 1B? ••
" Rn<l where they inLereect will be hei ht or deptn of his ch
aracter. Perhn:>s we need only to kno.,· ho. his shores trend
An his !l<!jc>cent country or c!rcl.lllstflnces, to his depth and
conce(lled bottom. n 36 Thls was the kind of character ann-
ly· is • horer!U W!!nted •. 1\;;>pliecl to himself, of course, 1 t
ould h've reaveled" a corres!>Ondin·· depth in h1m"37 the
hero whose centre ~•ould h~ve been ;:/alden Pond itself. And
once the pond was the soul, cover, inlets, !'nd shores, the
sea end navieation, provi ed the i111v'ery for a conceit
that seemed irresistible. For Walf!en was such an indivi(tual
lake, a sweE!t se.<1 1 that " private seatt38 of tbou,ocht, the
self thnt Thore:c:u in •eonclusion' advised his contempora~ies
to explor·e.
In exploring the depth o! the pond, Thol'eau
was explorin. his own depth, t.'1e depth of his inner sell
His ver:1 act of ~;angin,:; the depth " was a contemplative
labour to be contrasted with the utilitarisn skimming of
the pond by the ice cutters, nnd a cor.scious end£vour
to be contrasted with the ecstasies of his youth." 3g
While plUIIlbin· the depths h£> discovered " a brieht green
weed," the symbol of or::anic life and soul, •'~hich, he scid
was very er;r eable to behold in midwinters; 8 40 tmd
while surveyinc; the pond he discovered the manifestation
o~he same organic la\>1 in the undul.ation of its apparently •
rigid surface. And t'1e ice, wluc:r: others were harvestinr:,
was now for hill the si":n of his own purity rather than
dormant state, t"le si n of that " new auaterity"41.
•• 183 ••
he spoke of in 11 1-11 ht>r lewall which pE>rrnltted the mind to
descend into his OO''Y <:n:l rec'aem it •••••• "42 IJhile rer·din·:
'I he Hari v Oilll na , 'Inorcru ~·c'! noted thnt 11 the heart
. illcd ~·ith etran;:e a~fecticn::; ie to be here below puri,'ied
by wisdom, 1143 The pur<:> hnlden water minc:led with the sacred
waters of i'i1e ::;~:n';es, in t'.c fnmous conclusion of t' ia
chPpter. b~ccuse he h~d trPnslated the ice, a commodity
exported to all p~rte of the world, into "solidified
azure•, 44 a symbol o.f purity and spirit, :>o also 11 Hi ;her
L·wsn and " 'l'he f!oncl in Winter• were joined together by the
ascetics disciplines of oriental -philosophy - by th,~t mornir
anster1ty which he was now re~larly performing.
Pond in ''inter•, ~1hen Thoroau wrote that :
in thirty days lliOre, probably, I shell look from the Srlf!1e window on the pure sea-!P'eert ~ialden water ti:ere, reClectin. ·::he clow~s an-' the trees, rmd send!ll!~ up its ev~ratiol".s in solitude, nnd no traces ~i-iill ~PP«ar thct a mnn has ever stood there. 45
'rhe:n spr.'ng came as a SYJIIbol of rebirth when
whole Nature be an to appear in its new form. One of the
purposes of Thorc c:u in comin' to the .;oods WPS to " have
leisure and opportunity to cee the spr1l}f, come in. •46 And
before it actuc•J.ly c~e 'i.'horeeu made a prept:eration to
w&lcome it.:
•• 1PJ ••
"r nl" on the Alert for the first si m; of :;l>r·.n ·•
to hPPr thC' cl•: nee note of s:·.me errivin:' bird,ol' L1e stripp-
ed 5'Ju1rrel's chirp' for ;1!5 stores must be no1> ner>rly
e"h•·ustnd, or Sf·e the '•Dor1cl~uck venture ~d out of his
~linter qur;rte:·s. Gn th~ 1 .ith of Mrrch, nfter I h;3rl heFtl'd
~·bture bus 1 ts o·.n:1 me b:n~ o:f bringine e
chet:-/·,e. It vms ~·.radua11y tl;·t t'be winter be·:an to show.,
~.i ns of chun·e. The went~W':' ;':l'ew warmer , the sno1r1
and ice be~;Bn to melt, thf' " circulations" ber;:an in the
rtlls and rivulets, purr; in·" the blood the winter1148
PJ.nd Thoreau no lonrer needed to gtether woo<!. for his t'ire
assured no,, th t would kt:H';p ··is vital heat. In the theWint;;
cl8y of the rd1 road out h.: sc..w " the Artist who m""de the
world Bnd me "4! c;ive way to the impulse of expression.
Indeed, hJ.s descri;>tion of t'D('> th"w• one of the most
brilli:ont end best suetpitwd :1'.!12lo~·ies in transcer!dental
writ.in<', 1 1vas r> myth of creation as expression, an eltoborste
-refore, of the creetivc and :~i,c.pin:~ power of Idea, ~·n<} the
re~.Pwal that proceeds from the in~ide out. :'n·5 it ,;,srs more
than that:"' metr<pbor of birth, and a metaphor of puri :'icatior:
ved for two cons{cutivc; .:c--::·s the phenomenon o:f s;:>ring-
•• 185 ••
how slo·.;ly 1 t came nn h01<1 winter be en to :ive W?.Y for 1! e
comin •. ~lE' 'II rote 1
Few .pheno~~~enon ·~!W& lllE !IIO!"e deli ht th:1n to obsterve t'JE! forra!: ,,hich the thr•win:-. s.~nd end d11y e·.sume in flow1n~ do. n thP. oines of a deep cut on the r"!lro.~d throu'h which I ppssed on my WilY to the v!llnr·.E', E! phenomenon not very common on so lfl%'!1:0 e scc·le, thouo;h the nUIIIber of !'reshl.y expo.>ed banks of the ;·1 ht mat-'rinl mus~" ha·1e beer; 'creRtly multiplif!rl since rn!J ro:>t:ls wer'! in.·ented.50
The thaw wos first of a 11 a following a 11 burstinr;
out"51 of the " insi<les of tr e eorth 1152, the unfoldill,t1 of
" th ill "- hi t '' ~3 f lo 1h". +~wi,...r obeyed e ) e...-up c ory · ::> o geo ~;:y. ~ .""'
the lav of currents end th£' law of vegetation. Thoreau
callt:d it a 11 grotesque or mytholo<:ic~l ve:etat:ton11 Sl'
and 1 t reminded him not only of foliage, but of 11 brains or
l.un,;.s or bo'-'wels, and excrements of all kinns." 55 He felt
as 1f he w~:re nearc•r to the vitals of the e;lobe. "56
This £>Xremental character sug ;ested " thl'lt Nt:~ture ho.s some ·
bowels, and ••••••• is mother of. hw8.nity ••••• "57 For the
treat coming out of th~ p,round was spring, a newly delivered
child," Eerth ••••• in her swr,ddlin clot::es" 58 stretching
forth 11 baby fine-, ers on every side. It 5'
Besides !1e saw in the th&n not only the birth
but the development of men, in the stre,-ms of clay the
for.'1at1:m of blood vessels, in sand tJoe bony :n:?tter. in
finer soil the flesh- in fact, the process by ~~hlch rivers
were forrn2d ~~d v~lleys creater se~~ed us nn n~lo~y for the
creation O! the huaBn face. he wrote :
• • 1 ~.,_r, ••
"' :1t 1.::; ···r-:1 but r nro 11 of thE!l:ln·· cl 'J 7 •••• \Jho !.o:;l~J\·~~ w:: t t ··.- :1\.Jm n bo. J .ou · ·! ~, · "~l ~ ..., ... ' f1 'J' o"~ to 11~-~"t' ,, marc- c•ni:--1 he-"'e:t"(i· •
~;prJ.n.: inn:~ u:'£· :!.G :c symbol of y'Outll, no:;e
ness a:r:d hope :
i·inlden in sbply the SU!1 of
sprin ·, offcrin:· escape frO!~ .l:e mort~:~l cycle, t.<:";is •.;i11
\irlden
" the passage ends quietly, " I c~me in, .:nr~ s~ut i..l'".i.
•• 1f'·t ••
door, ~n<~ lll">'1"d 111:1 !iP&t S?rin", nl·rht in tl1c wood5o"63
Tt)i!J S!!nt4nce brin 3 th .. ·.:rlr!f>n yeor rO\.Intl to 1 ts second
sprln~ (the pr1w tr>us sprin•~ wn!:. .-Jevoted by T!lorPnu to the
t!'Sk of hou<Je- built!in1;). It is preceded !lnd follo'•l<!d by
eire lin.\~ iJla. ·:es of ~1ild geese ,u.t.l wild duck:J arri·t.ii.l · :.1t
the pond.
11.11 sor;~;on'" hove tl:e1l' importance anrl (;ll · nve
their W.:!leome 'but " th~~ comir~:! in o.f spril'lg. is l.ike the
crei':'tion o! Cosm(xo out of ch:--o.~ and the realization o:t
t."Je Gol de.n fl~e." 64 F'Qr such is the order of n:.l tu:..·e to
help for tr;c •:.r.owth r>!l('1 to existence of ll!e on earth. Sprtn.e
comes 2a a re~!nder to m~n of somethine of eternal in its
character thpt exists bevond this mund;me lite '<~here there
exists .neither decay nor death, and where there is all life,
bliss and ha;;>pinerw. 'fhore;;u could C!ltch such epiph...,nif'ls :
Ah 1 I htrve penetrated to ti:t.'t!e meadows on the morning o:f mPny s :li.rst spt'in:: day t jump ill!; :from hummock to hUmmock, from Wi:tlo~v Not to willow root. when the wild riv~r valley an0 the woods Wf!re bathed in so pure and brir,ht a li.,~ht sa would ll!'Ne waked the dead• 1! they '·wd b·2en slumbe.r-!.ng in ~hdr r,r'"ves, as som'! suppose. There needs no stronge1• PN·J! of inK,or'tal!ty. ,'.11 thin.·:s ~st ~ve i.n e~cl·, a Uc-ht. 0 ~ath, where ~cs 1 tr,y s;;:Lng 7 0 .il:'::v& w ·,t~re \<l<'il thy vic ~Or}' • then?~
~ihr~t is required :f.or a man to ,,o th1·ou .h such
experie!lC"S is " too t.':lnic of wildness "65 which ·,;oull~ · ive
billl v!P,our end v·iteli t:; to see beyond the world of ne ;;urt! on
eternP.l life und an eternal sprin;~. therefore, in the Cjcl&
• • 1 ~:"''""•·
'J.'' c r.ir--·•<-<J.lour.; inflUX of li;:>:ht ~;t the a• ·vE>nt of :;orin sh:J\~(~r\ 'fhore~u c p· ble of r:~ .>in;' ni.Jo·rc nr>t>.,re to em i\:;olloni· n v~ .. :don. IlO.:w he uo~1 'O on to nc'hieve a synthesis nuc•··, ?.5 th··t offered by orph!em ? Initi,tN> of this aneitmt cult beli.everl that :!.f '.:' '-'! cou1·i su~fic.i.c1•tly trnaBCend the Lionysie'n world, 1:' f''J ccul~ ~?<Cf, )e :frorr. t:"'e ~,-:r-~P.tu..,l 9~"'0cess of c· nn::.e, revolvi~l.·. in <J cycle, by .,.i;·;·":tnr•. on inn!!r mystic..-1. ~:n·:lo-; 1i'hi:::h 1:; etf'rn"l•
oo~ril of' h l·'k fr '1Jen··]n - ····•'o -1 of '.·Jf:; j'-,1 .•.· .. '.<"•\h "el·r. • • . , " ::: . a .'c • , ' .. ·.--.·c .. " '·' ;:,.1'·' ~· - -- "' •
to seeint.:: a loon on thE> pond early in M13y, tl'..e chapter
ends 1 '* And "0 the ee--sons ~1ent rollin2 on tnto su;mJer, 11G3
It se~?~~~S t!:<at ThoNJE>U w~·s still revolvinr; in thf! cir-cle o:f
' Thus wns my fi.:'st yCc:?r' s :l :!.fe in th<? viOOd.s cooplete('; ~;>nd t·'-le second year \~as similar to it. I :fin21ly lett \'-'3lden t~epte>r:he:r 6th 184\7. 6'
stupid ae1lors ;>1ek1n- oek.- but like brsVe ~lumbWI " to
whole new c ntinents and worlds w1 thin (hill), ope:1in'"' new
ch-.nnels 1 not of trarle, but of thought. "70 Such 1a t."l0
'1dv1ce of Thorer>U to those Rdventurists who .. ·ould seek
t~elr own Walden ~Dd awl live to explo~ tho worlds within
" !!.'Very mnn ia the lord of a realm beside which the e!'lrthly
cap1re ot the ezar is but (.) petty state, 8 hUJr:moc~ left
by the lee." 11
Having ex"PlOred his own worlos within, he :nt,de
a retreat from the woods." I left tl·e .,..100ds for as. good a
renson ns I ;vent there, " 72 the author of 'Conclusion' to
\'ielden writes: " £1erh1•ps 1t geemed to me th!'t I had
several more lives to live, and could not spare Any mo:re tim
for that one."73 Why 'I'horeeu, the man, terminated his
resi·~ence at Welden Pond has always b;'·ftled the researchers
even more than why he \'lent there in the first place. He
himself is :focted into psra(1ox an(~ met::>phor t·lhen trying to
exp:: ·1in it on '.he lit r··l level. The details of his
wit.~dra·.al from the •·1oods are avdlrible 1n one of his
Journal: entries of 22 January 1852 which offer a more
elabor~lte but hardly more satisfying set of reasons • Yet
t.~ey spe.•-1'> of bis mind et t e til!!e of le~wing ti:e woods t
~ why I che.n·ed ? why I left the woods ? I do not think that I can tell. I have often wished ayself bsek. I do not kna.<~ ~ny better how I ever came to eo there. Perhaps it is none of my business, even if it is yours. Perl;eps I wanted a chan:>;e. There was a little stagnation, it rnay be. tbout 2 O'clock 1n the afternoon the world's axle crepked es 1f it needed greRsin.,, as 1f the oxen laboured with the wain and could herdly get their load over the ridge of the dey. Perhaps 1f I lived there IIUCh lon er, I lli·'l'lt 11 -'• there :Cor ever. ODe
would think twio~ before he acce>ted heaven Oil such tems. A ticket to Heaven IIUSt include ticket to Limbo, purgatory, end Hell. 74
It is futile to ,.o into the question as to why
did 'l'hore['u ;;o to the woods and why did he withdraw '1
'l'he moe t J.mpor tant ot all the thin s in this context is
his experienco of li"•in ~ at the Walden Pond. His mAin
purpo _ e wr:os to discover whether life was worth liVillft, en~
if so he must discover its value in terms of splirl.tlual
truth and not in 1 ts materinl1st1c terms govern the
act1v1 ties of common men. In drawing his conclusion from e his experiences. he s®etimes d~ns the poetic mode of
\1} alr:>en by addres !ng audience with the zee.l of e morea.lJ
However me~n your 11f,~i,1s, meet it p.Jl·~ live it; do no~ shun it and itA.ffard nr,mes, It is not so bad asvou are • It looks poorest when you are richest ••• ._ cultivate poverty like a garden herb• like sage. Do not trouble yourself " much to et new thincc;s• whether clethes or friends. Turn the ole; return to them. Thin_ s do mt ehan;e• we ehanee. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see t.hnt you do mt want society .75
Thoreau felt an urge to apprise his renders
of the results of his "alden experbent before let tin~
thea~ ,-o and it h'OUld be worth ·::oing throu h 1n his O'.vn
wor s inspite o:f its short cOIIIin s :
I learned ~~is, atleast, by my experiment, that if one edvances confidently in the ~ direction of his dreams, and endeevours to ~ Uve the life \vhich he has illagined, he dll aeet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some thin;a bel-cind• will
pass an in·J.lalble boundary-. and 1-:e will live w1th the Hceae of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he e~nliflea his life, the laws of the universe will eppear less complex,and solitude will not be sotltude,nor povert'l ">OYerty,nor "'""knel'ls weakrlesa.76
This is very JIIUCh in oontol'llity wlth the V~entic
teee"irt;~ that infor-nG eo mu!:'h of hi~ ':reat book i'lolden. 'But
it certainly vio~'ltes the aode end so . .>ould spoil the effect
if it con ~1nued too lon· • Very o:tten hitl ~ententiousnens
risea into e:t:reotive aphorism. : 11 It 1a life nee.r t 11e bone
where it 1s sweeteetm Or better at111 into a. parable&'
"It JOU have built castles in the alr, your work need not
be lost, that is where they should be. Now j3Ut the foundations
under thom. 1118 In the last chapter he baa ude e subatitutiou
of taebphor for the mode of didacticism. The most remarkable
thirv, about his · ('conclusion is r series of memorable ima2.es,
linear instead of circular , and the spee1al travel tma ·:ery,
that brinrs finale to the entire meeninc: of W ~~en.
Thore&u did not believe in stiekinT to the p;a:th
of eonfor~~~i ty even :tf it wos to stick to his O'<;l'l. round of
set d.uties and <>~sig'OO\ents. '!e al11ays preferred an escape
from the eirculGr path of convention. ~lly shouldn't he dis
cover a nE,w path for hilll'self? This was an additional reason
for .~oin,': to the woods and withdrawing from there. He neither
wanted to stick to the routine life of Coooord nor to the
routine ltfe of the '~~oods. His soirit of adventure took
h1a to discover new Wf'ys and the same aade him to withdraw.
He withdrew from the woods but " did not return to Cone ore
village to tall into any of 1 ts routin€'S. "7! Out of the
gooae-ateppin;_; of the local llilltia, one of the most 1-eekJleyed
symbola for confo~nl ty 1 he croabn a new •etf\PhOr of thP.
•archin. hero thrt hl''> become f··,r~ou.s throu ;h re?el!ltec quotation~
I! a ~~n docs not keep pace with his compen1on$, perht~ps 1t is be:: a use h1.~ heors e di t'ferent t!~l11!I'. Let him stei) to the JaUsic whic'~ he hears, however mensurecl or :far aw~y.eo
Here is tl'!e imr-1·;e of "~ selt-reliP.nt man which h"s r>
lon and inter,,stinrr history in Thore::>u1 s writin.:::s. It first
ap;>"Ars in one of his Jo· rnal entries in 1840 s
A mBn 1 s lif.e shou~d he n sta.te1y march to an unhr·.e>rd music, ,.nd \~hen to his fellows it f".ay seem irrcr:ul<>r end in~rrrnonious, he will be stepping to a livelier measure, which only his nicer ear can detect.81.
The image reap;;>eGrs thot.;ll greatly ezteooed in a
l~eek • It is associated to tt.e hci ent o! hearing an actual
drummer in t"le ni:·ht. thou~;h described as a 'stray sound
pa from a far-off npb.:-~re." that comes to his ear W11en he
is falling ·sleep on the !;ank of th~ ~i!er't"illlaek • It leaves
hill IIUSing; :
A strain of mu::ie reminds me of a passage of the Vedas, nnd I associate with it the idea of infinite remoteness, as well es of beauty and serenity, for to the se!lSes thet is farthest from us <·ihich addresses the ~reatest depth within us ••••••• Thnt harmony which exists naturally between the hero • s moods ond the universe, the soldier would fair imitate with drum and trumpet. Vhen we ~ in. health, all sounds! fife and drum for us ••••••• •·1arc,:inf, is w"'en the puJ.Se o! the hero betots in unison \lith the pulse of Nsture_,. and he steps to the measure of the universe.B2
When this imece fina' ly r>P!)Par& in vi alden, the one
tiae hero ot ti ':leek seems to '1alk straight out of his mundene
•• 193 ••
t into a life t.l-)ot is in hnr~~~ony w1 th the universe. The
::• of t'le saH-rellt:mt men bPcome!'l fuller eont1'0lled and
~nda upon tl e &••:~ •.estive .P.!>$ o! a " di !fen:-nt drunnH=r"
music th<ot comes from " frlr aw:oy 11 , Dut ~~hnt j s i:n JOrtant
~'·,orenu 's mprti~o~l •netapho!!' v.-h!c~ co,nes later :
I delit:llt to come to my bearin,11;a,- not walk in "roce~;sinn with pomp •nd parer1e, in a conap1cous pl~ee, but to WPlk even with the Builder or the universe, if I may, •••• not to live in his restless nervous, bustl1r.w,, trivial Nineteenth ~entury, but sto.nd or sit thourttfully while 1t :~oes by. B3
Ther(e arc vcri0us im-gc!J of tr(>.r>sccrdence in :Jel<len
1ot: in·.· like the s-peci:--1 tr&vel ima ·.ery 111htch ives eomplett
lin: to ~~~ld,en.
It is the Journey motify that permeats all Thoreau
' da ·ana all are records o! his actual tri:>s and voyar;es
t.'H'Y speak of l'horeau as a traveller and an explorer.
1 the fourteen volUIIIes of his Journals are the records
J.s journey throur:;h the days and years. Walden. which is
master piece is " the final and unique expression of
theme. 11S4 There is an extraordinary cluster of tr::\vel
es in i:liilrttn which h~ve enabled the author to seek an
pe from the limitations of time and space. It now • there
• re::;dnes to brin:~ into fceus ":hE! speci::-1 tr~vel baa ery
alden. !:ilKl in tl·:e ,Tourn<)l, th!1t will 1llum1nt.1.te the
e of the present st1.Jdy.
•• 19"•··
All ll!e is :, voyo· t nr; .~n unknown se • •; ::e
irWi·1i ual soul 1~, : r· :• vc··~urt•l' from ar. unkno .. n l.~n.•. ls
not our birth " n sl;-e,;> nci :J for ett1n "? .ihere is our [>OI"-
m"nent ;,om~ 7 I:- not tll~ indL lC:u:,l .-.oul in seprc; · of its etr.I"
n·l h0111e? T:·e 'tihOle life is ;·. vocvtion. a journey in ow· !.>ir.glc
pursuit which tl10 i'l.unr-n soul const:ontly truct.·es on whithout
h"Cvin··. rny kno· .. Ld; e of its voyn(•·e. But 'I'1·.or!•nu woo is n
conscious tr,_,v..,llc:I· t!levntes the s::-.cul('tr 111alker into the
rel1 ious p1J.r;x·im. It occurs in the conte...,.t of l'is L·<rnEmts n::-<~ve
the "t· ri·.-ty of thr' person wi th 11 A t;enius.. •• •• for S8unter1n~i,~>l
one w11o does not wr;lk for mn:rcise or to :-:et somGWhere but "
.rto succeed to the hi .hPst and worthiest ends hy the abantlonne.nt
of all sp0c!!ic ends. 111''.6 In a chnracteristio ety-molo;de·l
:mme Thoreau mf;ntions in ona of hi<l Journ.3l entries from 1851:
And t'.ts wor'd.'seun'(er', by th1: WG.Y , i2 happiJ.y derived ; !rom if11e people \vho roved o'-oout the country ( in '!--:e t;i.,_:cle Mf€~S) <U"ld :·,sked ch~\rity under pretense of ;~oin· o ln Sainte Terre' 1 to the ilply kmd 1 till yerc!·!.;trJ.Ce, ·the c!1ildren excla!•·O\ecl~ 'IN~e There :-oes a Sainte-Terre. a Holy .. L;_-utier. T: uy ~•i:o n>ver c,;o to the !:oly Land in t: ·eir \~alks, as t:--ey )It"~' tend are indeed moPe idlers Ci1d d3.,j.&bour...:\.s.G7.
But ?Ito is t;,e tr~<e " Seunterern in ;'fc,lqen other
than the au~;hor himself, tf•(•l.\ h it is not e.;.~plicitly n2P1ed.
In II Visitors I. i't is Q,:o"lied to the eanr>dian wood chOPP0r,
thet wtld " ~aphl&·"OniFm' ma."l, >vho is seen 11 saunterin;:; throUf:h
the villf'!,;e 11 like " a ;>r l.nce in di.sr,uise. "83 In ">; L"lter
Visitors" it is r-,_,_,llc:d to l;lcQtt, the "blue-robe:'." sent; II
((
Of yore we hBd S:lU:.<tered Hn~1 ' ... ·lke6, and ;;1ffectu:::lly pu~ ~· .e
•• 1!5 ••
world bttblnt'l ue." ~ .But it is the narrotor himself v1ho is
the truP. saunterer, with ell his s}'I:Jbollc journC'yi!J..B on t!1e
There is n be!'lut1ful flr·saec::e in one o! hili<: :j<)Urn;ol
entries w lch is so pert.!ncnt to the trevP.l iJI:"' · c!"'] in
tv f!llden __ •
T'ho poet rr.ust k<=eP hi!!lf:.elt unstained and aloof. Let £1im p~rambubte the :Ounds of ima~1nation•A pr'ovinces, the re.-lms of faery, and not 'tile 1n::;!.r;n.if1cant bo•.:r.-:hr1es of tcr..4ns. The e:· curs!O'l:lS of the im;:·: in!'>tion are so bound1esst the limits of to"n on' so r.,etty.OO
" I have tl'avelled a :;ood deal in Concor•~"!i
Thoreau announces at the very beginning of his book, an
~trsvag'Unce th~t h~s won a kind of indul;;ent renown .Dn the
li t~ral level it woulct mel'ln th'"t he must hsve seen every
nook and corner of u~e :fifteen square miles of the whole
area of 1'-.0ncord township. But his et!'lte,;1tmt has double
aeanin;;. To tr~vel qnd t descry new la\1.ds' is to think
new thou;:hts, and have new ima~~ir...irlgs, " he wrote f!. oec!'lde
earlier i~:> his Journal, a 11 The deepest and most ori- inal
thinker is the farthest travellen."!2 Tr,&t is w~at ia ffie3nt,
on the second and lllOr>e s1 nifieant level, by his whimsical
atatement ~" I i EAve travelled a r:ood deal in Concord. n
loc:1l i.'!lages :>re extended tc .'lOb:>l
ones by ima.<;in"ll')' trnvl'!l. !\s hi looks across the pond fr011
•• 1!6 ••
!1:l.s C!'1'ir. r'oor, " tb" opl)oei.te r.rore ••••• stretched ll\iAf to\,flrd
the pr~1r1cs of the •·est NJd t·~·e etep•leA Cl! Tart:·rv," 93
\~hen tht> tea is cut in winter to bP. !'h!rlpf!d to r.s!A by
Ya"l1keE> r:lippe1·, RS hr. a b!'!en ,.,o1nted out, the pure VRlden
Water if' minc:lef. with the sncred water o.! the r.""li'"f'B. As ht>
Wt'S A wc":'J. r·c•,.d mr.-n in li i <:>rr:htre of the world, pert iC'.til.arly
from his ::rest o':;~r~:> house o! naodin:. Concord,tO'I{nship 1s
linked, hy thou U r~nd 1mr·~·ination, to the l!'nrls ~nd l1teratw-es
of the w0rlct.
It is ill tt Conclusion', the last chapter of UaJ.depa
th-~tt there exists the lpr~,est concentration of travels,
travellers, and fDrei:·n parts to be found in any one place in
all Thoreau's writin s. "Gut ectually t:1ey are t~e stA.rting
points for fi£-rurGS :.~; ~:J·?eeh. 'I'heN dre two kinds of trnvel
meanin s. A :final oit"::ul. r irDn;;e o:t tr ·vel is QSpecir lly
interesting becac;.se o! its t>rabignity. In the context of
globe- trcttinr, 1md so ;n·e.sumably- with dispara~:ernent 1 he
seys : n Our· v-oya :in·. is only £reat circle seilir:,,?. "94 T\1is the
navigator's tem !:;>r sai11n.s Plon: any of t~£ " gre<~t circlestt
like the equator, such a course bein;r t:;e ahcrtest bei:'.~e~m any
two points on th? earti 'r- t.urtPce. Th!it 1s1 it ·its the
definition of a strai tt line, t,,e ilhlsio:r. exi)€<riE·nc:,d ty ~
the voyager, b1..:i: it is :,,ctually M ara. cf thrt earth's sphere, ~ and following it 1 he eventually coates back to where he started
trca.
•• 1, .. It 18 0:1ly b:i tho U.:a 11ne1Jr ba,-;er of tr~vel
th t T!:orer" coul(~ nnnihilnte PJ;>ncc. 'i'he oost so:>rinr; one 1n
·.-:oldep over leaps ~u. bound.~ries ,,nd le-vea the pl net.
l!o.e it b£>comes the .rer~t st le.·:p of the spirit.:
Start D011' on thnt farthest \~esternw.,y, whic~ does not pause at the Mlssissipl or the pncific, nor conduct toward a worn out China or Jap -n, but leads or dit•ect, a tan- ·ent to this sphere, 8\l!lllller and winter, day and ni ht, sun down. •oon down, and at l.:~st earth do1~n too.!5.
Finally Thore--u eeer~:··s as the symbolic explorer of
the ne*'l worlr.s." If you would tr..,vel farther th::>n all
travellers", he concludes- " J.::xplore thyself."% So ~e
r;ive.s new life to an old cliche. i!is :f'il".al linear image of
trrvd annihilates nll spoce by dra<;in' it into himself• Spec«
out again recre~ted as metr.phors. Just as Thoreau ~erged
hie~self witH all th se by leA:M'l:i.l'l.": to orbit in their circles,
so he learned to esca!,)e from all entrapments by vert ica.l
le2ps in.to n nev;ly id.entified life of ::-- speritiual axplover.
'"''here could t>e no bE-tter way of concluding ;;alden other
th:>.D 111th his travel 1ma_, er:: of " spiritual explover.
In the final surnr:.~tion of his aesthetic
he oorrntcs th(> story of the ~rttst of Kouroo 2n:.J
identifies hi.~s~lf wit!'! 'hi!!!. In a ~ tter to his friend
he wrote in Decell!hPr 1853 : " How eA..m!rably the artist 1s
•ade to aec~plish his self-culture by devotion to his
own art.•,-r This was the i'i!!e w:~en he .~tJS concludin;; ·.-ialden
end the le1~end was beim ad•io4 to the 'book. It is olenrly
a .;arable of ..::orl'·u'a own laboure to oreate e .,erfect · .. ork o
art ~n walden, pol1ch1111!: anr! rev 4 sing it throu7.h el ht
sepcrate drB ta over a period of as many :reara- ell but lite
slly devotln~ hie life to it. His sl~leness o! purpose
endowed him" with perenni<>l youth•. As the corner of
Kouroo aspired upward, f:;:,shiosU.nt; hi.a simple staff, as the
or! inal creAtor ot t: e pond rounded it with his hnnd
into nn object of nntural be::1uty and symbolic si";Dificancc, s
1'noreau she.ped his aesttaetic eXperience into the J.mar:ery
of ~/alden and then 111ade a let'P out o:f it by transcending
the limits of time and sp~e. If nn artist asryires to
find an escape from tJl,: ll:;;itation o:f til:~:e. he ccm clo
it thrOU'.h the immortollty of art. ~;hat is required of
an artist, tr.erefore is that transcendence with which be
\1/or•ks 11takinc~ no compromise 'flith time and allo,,ing it to
stnnd. outside the ,,,onain o£ art. He is• then sure to en;)oy
that 1peren..'li·c 1 youth • which ~~ mrts bmortallty to the
wo:!'k of :'lrt. Ho>l enn the result under the circu:nstances
be otb0r chan >IO!'lderful ?
•••