Green Cyclones

1. Green Cyclones Excerpts from Thoreau’s Walden

2. From “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”Summary • Thoreau went to the woods because he wished to simplify life and reduce life to its lowest terms • Makes a statement about how life is complicated in the cities

3. Figurative Language • The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted but few are the ears that hear it. Olympus is but the outside of the Earth everywhere • There are many things to be appreciated but many people don’t take notice • IN the mids of this chpping sea of civilized life such asre the clouds and storms and quicksands and thosand and one items to be allowed for that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all by dead reckoning • there are so many things in life that we get distracted

4. Aphorisms • We do not ride on the railroad, it rides upon us. • People use up more time building the railroads that they don’t have time using them. • I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. • He went to the woods to discover what is important and not regret it later when it’s too late

5. Sounds • Summary: • Thoreau stopped living a normal life and what he usually did on a daily basis. • He observed every detail in nature and the sun’s movement throughout the day. • Heard the birds singing and how they sung to the sun’s movement. • Time as irrelevant for him since he only focused on his surroundings. • All humans have to live according to what they believe in and not just because.

6. Figurative Language • Similies: • “ Instead of singing like the birds, I silently smiled at my incessant good fortune” • -Thoreau was relating to the birds as they sung, because nature was the reason for their happiness and nature helped them connect with the inner soul. • 2. “..for I lived like the Puri Indians, of whom it is said..” • -Thoreau thought that man should find a motivation to live each day to it’s fullest and that should inspire them to look forward for the future.

7. Aphorisms • “…for yesterday, today, and tomorrow, they have only one word, and they express the variety of meaning by pointing backward for yesterday, forward for tomorrow, and overhead for the passing day.” • -Live each day as if there was no tomorrow, to the fullest. • 2. “A man must find his occasions in himself, it is true.” • -Every man has a passion and he has to live for that passion and never give up.

8. From “Brute Neighbors”Summary Thereau spends 1 hour or more observing how a group of ants (red vs. black) fight for their lives. He describes how they struggle for victory and compares it to a human war. He mentions how the ants’ war probably had some meaning in relation to human war that is often fought with out a purpose.

9. Figurative Language • Metaphors: • “… the red republicans on the one hand, and the black imperialist on the other. War is as useless with ants like with humans. • “they fought with more pertinacity than bulldogs”

10. Aphorisms • “I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had ben men. The more you think of it, the less the difference” • “I have no doubt that there is a principle that they fought for, as much as our ancestors, and not to avoid a three penny tax on their tee”

11. From “The Pond in Winter”Summary • Thoreau wakes up with an unknown question in his mind, a question that nature answers when he precisely observes it. He makes detailed observations about his surroundings. He explains that winter is a time of peace and discipline.

12. Figurative Language • “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” This means that the world is so peaceful we have heaven in our atmosphere. • “Like the marmots in the surrounding hills, it closes its eyelids and becomes dormant for three months or more.” • Thoreau explains that ice during winter ice yields life underneath ponds. Likewise, people who seem idle, might have life and vitality within.

13. Aphorisms • “His life itself passes deeper in nature than the studies of the naturalist penetrate.” The connection between man and nature goes beyond observations, it goes deeper within the soul. • “Nature puts no question and answers none which we mortals ask.” Nature doesn’t put forth any trivial questions, yet it has all the answers.

14. From “Spring”Summary • Thoreau describes in detail what happens during spring at Walden. He describes how things come back to life and how the ice melts away and the days become bright. He mentions how animals get out of their hiding places and how they start singing. He describes how the migratory birds fly in the sky and that he could hear the flapping of their wings. He states how the melting of the pond is like humanity being reborn.

15. Figurative Language • Simile: It is unusually hard, owing to the recent severe but transient cold, and all watered or waved like a palace floor. • Simile: It is glorious to behold this ribbon of water sparkling in the sun, the bare face of the pond full of glee, and youth, as if it spoke the joy of the fishes within it, and of the sands on it’s shore- a silvery sheen as from the scales of Leusicus, as it were all one active fish.

16. Symbols • I looked out the window, and lo! Where yesterday was cold gray ice there lay the transparent pond already calm and full of hope… -The pond symbolizes changes the point of view from being dark and negative, to being bright and hopeful. • As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of cosmos out of chaos and the realization of the Golden Age. - The pond in spring symbolizes humanity’s rebirth.

17. From the “Conclusion”Summary • He must leave the woods to live his life to the fullest. • By simplifying your life you can make everything better and easier. • Defy society by doing what your heart tells you to do. • However hard or unfair your life may be, enjoy it and make the best of it. • If old things make you happy and you considered them good, don’t look for new improvements. • Someone who doesn’t know what it feels like to have everything in life will appreciate more the little things he gets.

18. Figurative Language • “It is life near the bone where it is sweetest.” What this metaphor states is that at the core of the human soul is where the best of life can be found, the meaning of life lies much deeper than the person. • “The sun is but a morning star” Each day is a new beginning.

19. Aphorisms • “However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names.” What this aphorism means is that no matter how bad or cruel your life may seem, you must never turn your back on it but rather live it and enjoy it. • “The faultfinder will find faults even in paradise.” If you approach life negatively you will only experience the bad things.