Romanticism and Nature

One of the most important ideas that flourished during the Romantic time period was that of the goodness of nature.  Romantic writers were creating their stories during the time of the Industrial Revolution, leading to an increase in people inhabiting the cities.  This was a time that many people were nostalgic for the simple life in the country and a life in tune with nature.  These ideas are the main feature in Felicia Hemans poem "Edith, a Tale of the Woods."

Walden Pond featured in Henry David Thoreau's Walden

In "Edith, a Tale of the Woods," Hemans presents a field where a battle has just taken place, killing Edith's husband, along with many others.  Obviously, these deaths due to combat are very tragic, but the poem makes nature into a force that can alleviate the evils of the battle.  Edith sits all night with her husband's body and at one point the moonlight shines upon his face and "cast fitful radiance o'er the warrior's face" (40) which lets her see for the first time the "gathering haze" (42) that signals his death.  She yells out in agony over the death and only the forest hears her and seems to absorb her sadness.  She has the entire night to be sad and remain in the same state, but once the morning comes, nature seems to give her a fresh start and tries to make her move on:

 The pines grew red with morning; fresh winds play'd / Bright-colour'd birds with splendour cross'd the shade, / Flitting on flower-like wings; glad murmurs broke / From reed, and spray, and leaf, the living strings / of Earth's Eolian lyre, whose music woke / Into young life and joy all happy things (56-61).

 The next thing Edith knows, she has been taken in by an Indian chief and his wife, who traditionally are symbolic of being in tune with and respecting nature.  They too know the sadness of loss and together the three of them are able to find some happiness.  While her time with the chief and his wife was happy for them all, nature again takes its course and Edith dies.  Again, though, death is made to seem natural and peaceful because she is described as "to her home / was journeying fast" (155-156). Hemans also speaks about the moments just before the death and mentions the "'sounds and odours with the breezes' play, / Whispering of spring-time, thro' the cabin-door'" (165-166) as if to say that the process of dying is peaceful and that just before death a person can notice just the sound of the wind, instead of worrying.  At the very end of the poem, the chief tells Edith "Dim our cabin will be, and lone, / When thou, its light, art fled," (222-223) meaning that Edith is a light, or another nature symbol.

The fact that this entire poem was about nature and romanticized even the most sad and gruesome events is an important part of the culture at the time.  To some extent it was inspired by the Enlightenment, which encouraged a more spiritual take on the world, but it was also inspired by an opposition to the revolutionary time period that came before.  "Edith" is a good example of the kind of thinking that really was prominent in this time period.  In this poem, everything has a good aspect to it and it natural and fits in with the harmony of the world, unlike the turbulence that had been caused by the time of the revolutions.

Note: The epigraph translates to:

"My heart is broken, and dead to the world

And nothing remains of my joy and desire,

Oh heaven'y father-take home your child-

My journey in life now is over and done."

Links:

• This article talks about Romanticism more broadly and has a lot of historical perspective.
• This one is more specifically about Romanticism and nature.

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think Hemans decided to have Edith be fostered by an Indian chief and his wife rather than a different family or none at all?

2. Do you think the epigraph, a quote from "The Maiden's Lament," supports the ideas of the poem or contradicts them?  How does that relate to Romanticism and nature?