Journal of the Second Week, March 17th
Chief Seattle’s speech and the whole series of Indian poetry are famous while we discuss the conception toward nature between aborigines and city people. Therefore, when speaking of the incapability of accommodation to ‘civil life’ as being in the city, Indians’ idea may be a little strange to us. But as I think it over, the reason they dislike the city is because they can not find family there. Nature seems to them a big family, and Indians are living in it, be a part of it. They don’t afraid of the darkness in plain, in forest and valley when they have no lamps. Instead, the city’s brightness make the m blind as the noisy hustle deafen their ears. They believe human beings are born to live as a sensitive part of nature’s world. They think they are trivial because they have so many family members to respect and love.
It occurs to me that there are some sentences in Wordsworth’s poem ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality’. Following are the sentences which respond to Indian thinkings: “Thanks to the human heart by which we live/Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears/ To me the meanest flower that blows can give/ Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.” Through out the poem, the poet believe that human is born to be in nature, so God has given us a vision to see ‘celestial light’ which is also in nature. However, humans always forget their first birthday present and seek for other unimportant ones. In order to adjust this kind of attitude that takes nature for granted, the poet brings out the idea of finding ‘human heart’ back again. The ‘human heart’ here presents a humble attitude to live in nature and the most proper mind to live with nature is philosophic because it seems hard for us to have the initial visionary and appreciate nature sincerely. The poet then uses three words to describe and make restrictions of the ‘human heart’—‘tenderness’, ‘joy’ and ‘fear.’ The last word is the most significant because human beings usually think themselves as the over soul among all creature instead of knowing they should be humble to all nature beings. I reckon Wordsworth and believe that people like Chief Seattle hold all conditions named by the poet. His heart is full of fear because he knows he is merely a member of this immense family. His heart knows what tenderness is because he cares both his tribe and the white men’s, in the name of brotherly love. He enjoys his ancestors’ and the nature’s immortal company in joy, too. I think all these are what we should learn and keep reflecting ourselves on, as human beings.
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