Walking Author: Henry David Thoreau | Language: English | ISBN:
B00AS18UM6 | Format: PDF
Walking Description
“I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness…”
“Walking" is an essay written by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). First published in 1862, it has become one of the most important essays in the environmental movement, along with Ralph Waldo Emerson's “Nature”, and George Perkins Marsh's "Man and Nature".
The ebook also contains a biographical profile of Thoreau written by Archibald MacMechan (1862-1933) in 1918.
- File Size: 688 KB
- Print Length: 49 pages
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00AS18UM6
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,008 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
Thoreau began WALKING by saying that he wanted to regard man as a part of nature, rather than a part of society. There were already enough people taking up the causes of society and that wasn't his purpose. Thoreau really walked, and sometimes it was for hours, unlike the half-hour walks he mentioned that others told him about and that they probably walked on the highway. He wasn't a highway walker, but instead walked in the forests and fields to observe, appreciate and commune with nature and himself. This freed Thoreau from the everyday problems of life and the civilized world around him.
Beauty was everywhere, even in the swamps, and he mentioned how he would love having a house built right at the edge of a swamp. Even in the first half of the 19th century, Thoreau noticed that forest land was being cut down in order to build houses. He turned out to be very prophetically correct when he said that eventually walking on the earth would mean trespassing on someone else's property, something that we have to be conscious of today. Thoreau spoke of improving "our opportunities, then, before the evil days come." By not taking advantage of getting outdoors and walking and really noticing nature, we would miss the enjoyment of it all.
I found this to be quite inspiring to urge me to get outdoors again and walk, no matter how far or long my endurance lasts. This essay is also very relaxing and thought-provoking to read. I especially loved how he spoke of trees and especially hemlocks, since the hemlock is my favorite tree. Thoreau says that if we listen to the "subtle magnetism" of nature that we will yield to it.
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