Divine and Devilish Nature 

by Jolene Markley

Bierstadt, Albert. On the Merced River. Undated. The Autry's Collections Online, Autry’s Collections Online – painting On the Merced River (theautry.org)

Transcendentalism refers to a type of spirituality popular in mid-1800s New England. As its name implies, transcendentalism is about transcending the material world (Getchell 1). One of the most famous transcendentalists of the time was Ralph Waldo Emerson. In one of his essays, titled “Nature”, the main idea was that the closest humanity could ever come to God was through spending time in nature. That nature could, in fact, be considered a divine being in and of itself (Getchell 1).

Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Stock Montage/Getty Images. The Definition of Transcendentalist (thoughtco.com)

Emerson Quote. Filson, Filson — Patience. (tumblr.com)

 Another prominent figure of the 1800s used a similar concept in her writings. Emily Dickinson wrote many poems in which she personified nature as a powerful entity. Specifically in her poem “I Started Early – Took my Dog”, Dickinson describes the sea and her interactions with it one morning. Dickinson, in contrast to Emerson’s views on nature, used descriptions that give the reader a negative view of the sea, as if it is a savage, violent, and immoral being. This subjugation of the sea into an inferior class is known as othering, which comes from post-colonial interpretations of literature (Tyson 266). Transcendentalism can be used to rationalize the othering of the sea in the poem “I Started Early – Took my Dog”.

Emily Dickinson describes the sea as if it were a human being. In her poem, the speaker is visiting the sea in which it “Presum[es] [Her] to be a Mouse- / Aground-upon the Sands” (Dickinson 7,8). The sea is shown to have thoughts about the speaker. He is looking down upon her and sees nothing but a small, defenseless creature. This expresses the great vastness of the sea and the dangers that come with such power. This is in direct conflict with Emerson’s view of nature’s power as he often wrote of how nature was “an endless source of delight . . . Nature was wild and pure. It was exhilarating.” (Harvard Square Library 1). A transcendentalist view of the sea would have been focused on how its vastness and power did not equate to a threat to humanity, but instead, it was a divine power that was meant for good.

 Another way the speaker others the sea is by showing the reader how strange the sea can be. For example, lines three through six of the poem read:

The Mermaids in the Basement

Came out to look at me-

And Frigates-in the Upper Floor

Extended Hempen Hands- (Dickinson)

The presence of mermaids on the bottom of the ocean floor is yet another way for the speaker to imply that the sea is alien or separate from reality. The sea is placed into a different category in which fantasy creatures exist, showing an “us” vs “them” mindset of the speaker. The second half of the verse shows a familiarity with humanity above the sea. The frigates, presumably with human sailors aboard, extend hands towards the speaker almost as a kind gesture. This again shows that the sea and humanity are separated with humanity being helpful and the sea containing unpredictable alien creatures.

An additional example from the poem shows the use of the demonic other, meaning that the sea is shown to be savage, immoral, violent, and possibly evil (Tyson 266). The sea is portrayed as a male figure within the poem and in lines thirteen through fifteen the speaker describes how “He would eat me up- / As wholly as a Dew / Upon a Dandelion’s Sleeve-”(Dickinson). This imagery conjures ideas of a savage beast consuming a small, defenseless creature. It could also be applied in a way that alludes to the sea, as a man, consuming the speaker’s innocence in a sexual context. That, like morning dew on a flower, the speaker was an innocent in which the sea greatly overpowers. In the next few lines, the speaker begins to back away from the sea:

And then-I started-too-

And He-He followed-close behind-

I felt his Silver Heel

Upon My Ankle-Then my Shoes

Would overflow with Pearl- (Dickinson 16-20).

Even as she backs away, the sea follows her. The pausing between lines, as well as the repetition in the second line, convey a sense of fear from the speaker. The sea was so close behind her that she could feel his presence near her heels. This relays an undercurrent of violence from the sea as he closely follows the speaker as she tries to retreat from him. The last line also correlates with the sexual context of the previous lines. The overflowing of pearls could be another metaphor for the sea and the speaker having a sexual relationship. This would have been considered immoral in the mid-1800s when the poem was written and reinforces the idea of the sea as a demonic other.

Fel-X. Troubled Waters. 2010. Deviant Art, troubled waters by Fel-X on DeviantArt

     At last, the speaker retreats enough to reach the safety of the town. She describes that “Until We met the Solid Town- / No One He seemed to know-”(Dickinson 21-22). The sea is once again othered. He knows no one in the town and this gives a sense of the sea being an outsider to their society that doesn’t belong with humans. This also could relate back to Ralph Waldo Emerson and his transcendentalist ideologies. Nature, or the sea, was considered divine to Emerson and divinity is not natural among humanity. In fact, Emerson saw nature as “whole” and “unchanged by man” (Harvard Square Library 1). Although Dickinson’s poem and Emerson’s ideas portray different versions of the sea, both imply humanity’s separation from nature.

Seeing that he was not meant to follow the speaker into the solid town, the sea decides to retreat. The speaker describes that he bowed to her and “with a Mighty look- / At me-The Sea withdrew-”(Dickinson 23-24). One interpretation of these lines is that the sea gives the speaker a threatening look before he returns back to his original place. The sea is being separated from human society as the speaker becomes safe, surrounded by humanity in town, and once again is delegated to its place away from society. Another interpretation gives the sea the benefit of the doubt. The author Brian Yothers of the Dickinson Electronic Archives describes that “the speaker avoids drowning only because the sea, figured here as a courtly suitor, makes the choice to release her . . . the tides decide, not the speaker” (Yothers 1). While still using personification, this interpretation gives the sea a more human thought process. That the sea consciously chooses to spare the speaker. Although this way of thinking does have merit, this still gives the sea a threatening aura. The sea is deciding the speaker’s fate, and it is only by his mercy that she is released from his hold.

The use of transcendentalism to personify nature ultimately justifies the speaker’s othering of the sea in “I Started Early – Took my Dog”. In the mid-1800s, at the height of transcendentalism and the writing of this poem, nature was considered a divine force. Nature was a powerful entity separated from humanity and a negative portrayal of this power shows in the speaker’s subjugation of the sea into an inferior category.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Bierstadt, Albert. On the Merced River. Undated. The Autry's Collections Online, Autry’s Collections Online             – painting On the Merced River (theautry.org)

Dickinson, Emily. “Appendix A: ‘Poem 520 I started Early-Took my Dog’ (Emily Dickinson,                             c.1862).” Using Critical Theory: How to Read and Write About Literature, Third ed.,                             Routledge, New York, New York, 2021, p. 326.

Emerson Quote. Filson, Filson — Patience. (tumblr.com)

Fel-X. Troubled Waters. 2010. Deviant Art, troubled waters by Fel-X on DeviantArt

Getchell, Michelle. “Transcendentalism.” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-early-republic/culture-and-reform/a/transcendentalism. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Harvard Square Library. “The Living Legacy of Ralph Waldo Emerson.” Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Theology, 2024, www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/ralph-waldo-emerson-theology/#:~:text=For%20Emerson%2C%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20whole%E2%80%9D%20could%20be%20seen%20in,the%20part%20of%20nature%20that%20most%20expresses%20God.

Ralph Waldo Emerson. Stock Montage/Getty Images. The Definition of Transcendentalist (thoughtco.com)

Tyson, Lois. “Using Concepts from Postcolonial Theory to Understand Literature.” Using Critical                      Theory: How to Read and Write about Literature, Third ed., Routledge, New York, New York,                 2021, pp. 262-304. 

Yothers, Brian. “Going to Sea in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry: Decentered Humanism and Poetic Ecology.” Dickinson Electronic Archives, 2013, www.emilydickinson.org/emily-dickinson-lyrical-ecologies-forays-into-the-field/going-to-sea-in-emily-dickinson-s-poetry-decentered-humanism-and-poetic-ecology.