- Jul 2019
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was very pleasant, when I stayed late in town, to launch myself into the night, especially if it was dark and tempestuous, and set sail from some bright village parlor or lecture room, with a bag of rye or Indian meal up
This feeling is terrible being alone and finding your way home in the night. You do not know what is yet to come ahead.
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has found by this time. I am convinced, that if all men were to live as simply as I then did, thieving and robbery would be unknown. These take place only in communities where some have got more than is sufficient while
This is interesting since the less you have, the simpler life will be and you will be able to find value in what you do.
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gone off thither long since, they would settle down by a slanting flight of a quarter of a mile on to a distant part which was left free; but what beside safety they got by sailing in the middle of Walden I do not know, unless they love its water for the same
I wonder if the ducks enjoy Walden Pond as much as Thoreau, it is interesting why they choose this pond specifically.
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e here he must come up there. But now the kind October wind rises, rustling the leaves and rippling the surface of the water, so that no loon can be heard or seen, though his foes sweep the pond with spy-glasses, and make the woods resound with their disc
The number of men hunting for one bird is very ironic in this paragraph. Also, it is very descriptive what the woods was like.
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nwhile my beans, the length of whose rows, added together, was seven miles already planted, were impatient to be hoed, for the earliest had grown
Thoreau was uncomfortable with the size of space he had to plant crops so he decided only to plant a third of an acre. He questions whether or not to disturb the natural vegetation.
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ry. And now to-night my flute has waked the echoes over that very water.
Thoreau is inconsistent about his use of "now" throughout his revisions of his piece. In this part of his writing I believe "now" is referring to his first year at Walden when we was working on hiss beans.
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from the jingle of sleigh-bells, I slid and skated,as in a vast moose-yard well trodden, overhung by oak woods and solemn pines bent down with snow or bristling with icicles.
I can picture and feel the energy of what Thoreau is experiencing at Walden.
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for all the motions of a squirrel, even in the most solitary recesses of the forest, imply spectators as much as those of a dancing girl,—wasting more time in delay and
I like the descriptions of the squirrel, this describes how these creatures behave. Squirrels often take large leaps and risks which provide little reward.
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d. Much is published, but little printed. The rays which stream through the shutter will be no longer remembered when the shutter
Here Thoreau shows that reality is the true source of knowledge. This shows that being alert of what is going on is more important than any other wisdom he emphasizes.
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whistle of the locomotive penetratesmy woods summer and winter, sounding like the scream of a hawk sailing over som
The sound of the railroad is an example of onomatopoeia. The following negative and positive connotations of additional statements about the railroad, this is used to emphasize and describe in detail.
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mer afternoon, hawks are circling about my clearing; the tantivy of wild pigeons, flying by twos and threes athwart my view, or perching restless on the white-pine boughs behind my house, gives a voice to the air; a f
Thoreau introduces more sounds which is unclear until he explains the rattle of the railway car.
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is bending under the weight of the reed-birds flitting hither and thither; and for the last half hour I have heard the
Thoreau introduces more sounds which is unclear until he explains the rattle of the railway car.
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ouse, gives a voice to the air; a fishhawk dimples the glassy surface of the pond and brings up a fish; a mink
This sentence personifies aspects of nature to describe the experience he was imagining and seeing. I like the word choice.
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this latitude; that a man may use as simple a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and stren
Gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins in Catholicism, is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of food for fun or as "a status symbol" (Wikipedia). In this statement, Thoreau is stating that a man's diet can be simple and he can still be healthy and strong. This statement reminded me of gluttony, because I feel like today people over-eat for luxury or because they can, when really, our diet can be "as the animals."
Wikipedia Contributors. “Gluttony.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluttony.
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The wind that blowsIs all that any body
This statement reminds me of the unpredictability of nature and of life. We cannot predict what life will bring and we certainly are not all-knowing. Therefore, as Thoreau says, "the wind that blows is all that any body knows."
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w them. On the 1st of April it rained and melted the ice, and in the early part of the day, which was very foggy, I heard a stray goose groping about over the pond and cackling as if lost, or like the spirit
Thoreau uses description and narration here to paint a picture of the natural world around him, the sounds and imagery. I found it interesting that he compared the cackling of the goose to the "spirit of the fog."
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e names of. I would rather sit ona pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion. I would rather ride on earth in an ox cart with a free circulation, than go to heaven in the fancy car of an excursion train and breathe amalariaall the w
Here, Thoreau is explaining that it is better to be comfortable and healthy, than to be indulgent in luxury but be compromised of his free space and clean air. By this example, he is again stating his position that we should not strive for luxury and that it is ok to live simply. Why be "crowded on a velvet cushion" if you can be comfortable "on a pumpkin"? The same logic applies to luxury purchases in today's world. Why buy a Tesla and be drowning in payments if you can be comfortable in a Honda? Thoreau's comparison is just as true today as in was in 1854. If something serves the same purpose, we should chose the one that meets our needs, not our unrealistic desires.
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It is the luxurious and dissipated who set the fashions which the herd so
This is very true. Celebrities are huge trend-setters and with social media, their influence is more powerful. Why are people so quick to jump on the trends and follow them so diligently? Why do we try to be like the "luxurious and dissipated" and give them authority to influence? Overindulgence does not lead to more happiness. In the end, the rich and poor have the same fate. We do not carry our riches to the grave.
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o anticipate, not the sunrise and the dawn merely, but, if pos
It is interesting this paragraph truly gives nature a persona, describing very complexly a simple topic about anticipations.
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for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do
When I read this sentence, I quickly related it as being directly opposed to the infamous quote by Hippocrates, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." I think Thoreau is trying to convey that with wisdom, desperation is not an option, so "desperate times" do NOT "call for desperate measures", and adversity is clearly not be an excuse for lacking in wisdom and good judgement.
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