Nature in Writing: Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, and Henry David Thoreau
Bryanna Meade
ENGL 201-B06
Running head: NATURE IN WRITING 1
NATURE IN WRITING 2
The American Renaissance/ Romantic period, which lasted from about 1830-1870, was a
time of rapid expansion and growth in the United States that fueled intuition, imagination and
individualism in literature. As stated in “History of the American Renaissance in New England,”
this period is often “referred to as the New England renaissance because it was centered in New
England” and it is “closely identified with American romanticism and an intellectual movement
known as transcendentalism.” According to the class notes, this period held a whole new
enthusiasm about portraying a unique American literature, culture, national life/character, and
discourse. The class notes also say that people during this period of time had a much greater
interest in nature and exaltation of emotion over reason. To fully grasp the great impact of
literature during the American Renaissance/ Romantic period, is it good to examine who
Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, and Henry David Thoreau are, and how the nature in
their writing is similar and different.
First of all, before diving into nature in writing, it is best to better understand these three
men: Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, and Henry David Thoreau. The class notes state
that Washington Irving was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and
diplomat of the early 19th century. He was an ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846 and
according to David S. Reynolds (2016),
Irving was one of the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and he
encouraged other American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and
Edgar Allen Poe. He was also admired by some British writers, including Lord Byron,
Charles Dickens, and Walter Scott. He advocated for writing as a legitimate profession
and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement.
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He did many great things during his time. William Cullen Bryant, on the other hand, was an
American poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. According to the
notes, Cullen Bryant was initially a Puritan and his graduation poem expressed religious views of
orthodox Puritanism. He left New England for New York and discarded his federalist convictions
to become a Jeffersonian Democrat and he dropped neoclassicism to become a romantic. He is
also a strong advocate for outdoor worship. Additionally, according to “Famous People of the
Romantic Period” by Pettinger, “Bryant altered the English-speaking world to an American voice
in poetry.” He made just as much of an impact as Irving did. Finally, Henry David Thoreau,
according to the notes, was a leading transcendentalist best known for his book Walden, a
reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay “Civil Disobedience”, an
argument for disobedience to an unjust state. He used this writing to explain when and how
citizens should engage in civil disobedience. Unlike Washington Irving and William Cullen
Bryant, Henry David Thoreau was an environmental scientist and he used that scientific
knowledge in his work.
When considering nature and how it is seen in writing, there are many similarities
between the three men. For example, Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant both have
writing with death and a darker theme. Washington Irving’s writing “Rip Van Winkle” uses
supernatural, gothic suspense, and horror. Another story of his, “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” also
has a dark and gothic theme. William Cullen Bryant, even though he wrote with the themes of
freedom and past in mind, he also incorporated death. According to the notes, his most famous
work, “Thanatopsis” itself means “a view of death.” Additionally, all three of these men have
writings with individual feeling and imagination. As stated in “History of the American
Renaissance in New England” by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, individualism and imagination were
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very common in writing during the American renaissance/ Romantic period. Writers during this
time in history were considered equal and often times better than European writers.
Furthermore, when considering nature and how it is seen in writing, there are also many
differences between the three men. Washington Irving focused primarily on a supernatural, more
gothic suspense, and horror. Some other characteristics of his writing, according to the class
notes, is that he used picturesque and picaresque, he emphasized an American regional setting
and character types, an escape from commonplace realities to the shadowy grandeur of the past,
and, finally, an exploration of folklore and legends. Although William Cullen Bryant had some
poetry based on the theme of death and primitivism themes, his works were still very different
from Irving’s. Some other characteristics about his poetry, based on the class notes, consist of the
use of vast panorama/ landscape to show the immensity of nature and the insignificance of man,
use of the American natural scene to convey his philosophical views/ ideas, an emphasis on
individual feeling and imagination, divorce from the hurly-burly of everyday existence, and,
finally, use of free verse and other things that depart from neoclassicism. Lastly, Henry David
Thoreau’s primary theme, according to the notes, is that men should lead sincere, joyous lives
instead of the toilsome sham existence that they now live. His common sources of topics come
from his personal experiences, especially his refusal to pay poll taxes, his transcendental beliefs,
and the Sophocle’s Antigone, where the heroine resists the law and obeys the gods to bury his
traitorous brother. According to the notes, Henry David Thoreau writes with the exponent of a
simple life with topics based on his belief that each individual has a moral duty to follow his
conscience rather than the law when the two are in conflict, conscience instructs the individual in
this higher law, and the individual has a duty/ right to resist unjust laws by taking action against
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them. Ultimately, all three of these men, despite the very few similarities, are all very different in
what they write about.
Overall, by examining and comparing Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, and
Henry David Thoreau, we can see the great impact literature had during the American
Renaissance/ Romantic period. If not for this time of advancement in ideals such as an emphasis
on the imagination, intuitive perception, and emotions, intense individualism and nonconformity,
Gothicism, humanitarianism, democracy, populism, love of land, wild nature, freedom,
primitivism, and antiquarianism, the many literary advances made would not have been made.
Without the literature written during the period of American Renaissance/ Romanticism,
literature would not be where it is today.
References
Brooks, R. B. (2019). History of the American renaissance in New England. History of
Massachusetts Blog.
Pettinger, T. (2015). Famous people of the romantic period. Oxford.
Reynolds, D. S. (2016). American renaissance. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature, doi:
10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.216
