Question

How is this excerpt from Walden by Henry David Thoreau representative of romantic ideals?

"This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore. I go and come with a strange liberty in Nature, a part of herself. As I walk along the stony shore of the pond in my shirt-sleeves, though it is cool as well as cloudy and windy, and I see nothing special to attract me, all the elements are unusually congenial to me. The bullfrogs trump to usher in the night, and the note of the whip-poor-will is borne on the rippling wind from over the water. Sympathy with the fluttering alder and poplar leaves almost takes away my breath; yet, like the lake, my serenity is rippled but not ruffled."

A) It describes how man derives material benefits from contact with nature.

B) It describes how man becomes wiser and richer through contact with nature.

C) It describes how professional ambition is assisted by communion with nature.

D) It describes how individualism and imagination help man appreciate nature.

Answer 1

I think the correct answer from the choices listed above is option D. The excerpt from Walden by Henry David Thoreau is a representative of romantic ideals since it describes how individualism and imagination help man appreciate nature. Hope this answers the question.

Answer 2

The correct answer is D) It describes how individualism and imagination help man appreciate nature.

For Romanticists, nature was the most important thing. They felt at home in nature, and their feelings often mirrored the state in nature at that particular moment. Nature was their escape from the society that stifled them and their imagination. This is why they turned to nature, escaping from everything and everyone, and learning how to live on their own.