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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Imagery Analysis

My Garden

If I could put my woods in song

And tell what's there enjoyed,

All men would to my gardens throng,And leave the cities void

In my plot no tulips blow,

Snow-loving pines and oaks instead

And rank the savage maples grow

From Spring's faint flush to Autumn red.

My garden is a forest ledge

Which older forests bound;

The banks slope down to the blue lake-edge

Then plunge to depths profound

Here once the Deluge ploughed,

Laid the terraces, one by one;

Ebbing later whence it flowed,

They bleach and dry in the sun

The sowers made haste to depart,

The wind and the birds which sowed it;

Not for fame, nor by rules of art,

Planted these, and tempests flowed it.

Waters that wash my garden-side

Play not in Nature's lawful web,

They heed not moon or solar tide,

Five years elapse from flood to ebb.

Hither hasted, in old time, Jove,

And every god,none did refuse;

And be sure at last came Love,

And after Love, the Muse.

Keen ears can catch a syllable,

As if one spake to another,

In the hemlocks tall, untamable,

And what the whispering grasses smother.

Aeolian harps in the pine

Ring with the song of the Fates;

Infant Bacchus in the vine

Far distant yet his chorus waits.

Canst thou copy in verse one chime

Of the wood-bell's peal and cry,

Write in a book the morning's prime,

Or match with words that tender sky?

Wonderful verse of the gods

Of one import, of varied tone;

They chant the bliss of their abode

To man imprisoned in his own.

Ever the words of the gods resound

But the porches of man's ear

Seldom in this low life's round

Are unsealed that he may hear.

Wandering voices in the air

And murmurs in the wold

Speak what I cannot declare,

Yet cannot all withhold.

When the shadow fell on the lake,

The whirlwind in ripples wrote

Air-bells of fortune that shine and break

And omens above thought.

But the meanings cleave to the lake,

Cannot be carried in book or urn;

Go thy ways now, come later back,

On waves and hedges still they burn

These the fates of men forecast,

Of better men than live to-day;

If who can read them comes at last

He will spell in the sculpture, 'Stay

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The poem "My Garden"by Ralph Emerson is filled with various forms of imagery. The title of the poem creates the imagery that Emerson later reflects on in the poem. "My Garden"is an extended metaphor for all of Mother Nature and this is a frequent theme in Emerson's poems as well as his essays. The series of nature imagery throughout the poem is used to help convey the theme of an appreciation for nature. The imagery is presented in a series of metaphors and personification of nature.

In the first stanza Emerson begins with a message about the powerful ability of nature. He uses a metonymy of nature as he refers to it as simply "my woods" as he would like to put the powerful and mesmerizing ability of nature into a song. Thus by doing so mankind could see the beauty and develop a better appreciation for nature. He continues with this concept as he depicts the images of all of the people that would flock to nature if only they were aware of its true beauty. The second stanza continues with more nature imagery form "tulips" to "snow- loving pines and."

He also says that "My garden is a forest ledge." From the imagery presented, it is inferred that Emerson is not just describing an ordinary garden in someone's yard but rather the forests and earth that encompass the world itself. Thus the extended metaphor of "my garden" is created by all of the nature imagery present. From Emerson's perspective the world itself is a big garden.

The second stanza also depicts imagery of the changing of the seasons. "From Springs faint flush to Autumn Red." This imagery shows the diversity of nature and how like other aspects of the world nature has the ability to change but still offers stability at the same time. Later the poem depicts imagery which is used to show how nature develops. The birds and the sowers are what help nature grow and develop. Emerson says that "Not for fame, nor by rules of art." Thus the author is asserting that in nature everything has a purpose and falls into place.

To further demonstrate the power of Nature, Emerson then begins to use personification. He uses the nature imagery and describes the forest as if it is able to communicate. For example the poem says, "as if one spake to another- in the hemlocks and the whispering grasses smother." This personification further emphasizes nature and its powerfulness. Then Emerson asserts the claim that the beauty of nature is hard to replicate.

To do this the speaker of the poem, questions whether a person can compete with the beauty of nature. For example the poem says "Canst thou copy in verse" the wood-bells peal and cry" or "match with words the tender sky." This sensory imagery of the nature shows how overlooked nature is by mankind. When the sky is said to have words Emerson shows that nature is speaking out and that its message is so powerful that mankind needs to stop and take notice.

Finally in the last stanza of the poem Emerson summarizes his final message with the personification of nature as a teacher. The whirlwind in ripples of nature wrote as if teaching mankind the true lessons in life. Overall the sensory imagery allows Emerson to convey his theme of being able to learn from nature. The lessons from nature "can not be carried in book or urn."They are just everyday lessons that individuals should learn. Therefore in the poem "My Garden" Emerson demonstrates his point of view that nature can teach valuable lessons and that people need to be aware of them.