Nature and the Consequential Effects of Human Activity

Comparison Paper
February 21, 2007


You ask why I make my home in the mountain forest,
And I smile, and am silent,
And even my soul remains quiet:
It lives in the other world
Which no one owns.
The peach trees blossom.
The water flows.
-Li Po

Man claims God’s flowers as his own when he weaves them in a garland.
-Rabindranath Tagore (from “Fireflies”)






Nature and the Consequential Effects of Human Activity

The literature written by Li Po and Tagore reflected the different cultures and religious beliefs of the time period. Both authors effectively convey their ideas of nature and of the spirituality of their surrounding environment. Although their ideals contradict each other, both Tagore and Li Po effectively convey the idea of ownership of nature. Through the poetry and prowess of Li Po and Tagore’s literature, the reader is treated to vivid contrasting opinions of nature and the role of man within its limits.

Li Po’s poem, written in first person, describes the persona as one who is somewhat mysterious. The persona does not want to reveal to the reader how or what about nature is compelling him to want to make a home in the forest. When the persona mentions “and I smile, and am silent, and even my soul remains quiet” it implies to the reader that there is something mystical about the forest. The reader is temped and intrigued that the persona does not divulge the reason for his connection to nature.

When Li Po mentions “The peach trees blossom. The water flows.” at the end of the poem, it leaves the reader wanting to know how the nature has captivated the persona of the poem so thoroughly as to include it at the end of the poem. The simplicity of the nature described in the last two lines also imply growth of the persona because the words ‘blossom’ and ‘flows’ (of water) signify growth and moving on with life. In this sense, the reader is also captivated by the nature that the persona is experiencing.

Contrasting to Li Po’s poem is the poetry of Tagore. His writings give the reader the sense that mankind is overpowering nature. The word 'claims' implies to the reader that the human race is taking over the nature that creates and provides for them. When Tagore mentions 'claims God's flowers', it also suggests to the reader that nature cannot have ownership by mankind because God owns everything. This also helps to suggest that God created nature. Therefore, God also created everything and cannot simply be claimed by man.

Tagore is also effective in conveying the fact that the humans are only claiming ownership when they want something from nature for personal gain. “Man claims God’s flowers as his own when he weaves them in a garland.” is a very good example of how humans become bent on taking advantage of nature when they want something. Nature provides everything for us; it is the source of our very being. Therefore, Tagore was effective to illustrate to the reader the sense that we should not be taking advantage of nature when we rely so much on nature for our very existence.

Li Po’s poem also implies the same views as Tagore’s poem. When Li Po mentions “[making] my home in the mountain forest,” he is talking about being one with nature. The poem also gives the reader the sense that the persona of the poem is becoming a part of nature by living in it. Only when one experiences nature does one really appreciate it. By living in nature, the persona of Li Po’s poem has now learned the spiritual qualities that nature has to offer.

The persona seems to enjoy nature so much that he doesn’t want to share how he is feeling with the reader. When the persona says “And I smile, and am silent” in response to the previous line of “You ask why I make my home in the mountain forest”, it seems that the persona is not revealing the mystical prowess of nature to the inquiring reader. There is even a mention that “even my soul remains quiet” which indicates to the reader that the persona has been truly immersed in the spiritual qualities of nature.

The soul now “lives in the other world/Which no one owns” implies that the soul of the persona has also been transformed by living in nature. There is a sense of deep transformation of the mind, body, and soul during the persona’s living in the forest. Nature has changed the persona’s spiritual knowledge, thereby teaching the mind that we should not take advantage of nature. Instead, we should embrace it for its splendor and beauty because we would not survive without nature.

Nature as I know it is very important to our daily lives. We often take for granted how much we rely on nature. For example, we would not survive without the purified water and food that the earth produces. These are two of the most important things that nature provides us. What’s more, nature also provides us with shelter and a means to create the grand cities and cultures that we are accustomed to in the twenty first century. We would be nowhere in our technological, cultural, and social advancements without nature providing the raw materials and sustenance.

Everything around us has come from some sort of natural being that we previously untouched by man until we learned how to manipulate it to our own needs and wants. When I look around, everything around me, the computer, lap, and bottled water had all previously had a life among nature until man discovered ways to manipulate it into things that we are able to use to our advantages. We are currently destroying nature at a time when nature is the only thing sustaining us. Essentially, we are destroying the very thing that sustains our way of life. In order for future generations to live in similar or advanced forms of the lifestyles we live today in the twenty first century, we must continue to preserve and conserve nature before it is too late for the human race as we know it today.