In Walden, the morning to Thoreau is
a time when people's senses, creativity, and ability to reflect are the most heightened
. In other words, it is literally and figuratively when mankind is the most “awake.”
Why does Thoreau praise the morning?
Thoreau worships the morning
as devoutly as a monk attending matins
. The morning is the “awakening hour” (Thoreau 85), the time when we physically rouse our sleeping bodies, leave our crumpled sheets behind, and prepare ourselves for yet another day. Yet the morning is also something far greater.
What does Thoreau say about morning?
Thoreau says “
every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself
.” He speaks of the morning as being a benefactor of prospects, of hope, and renewal.
What does Thoreau mean by awake?
To be awake is to be alive
. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake.
What does Thoreau wake up his neighbors to?
His intent, he declared in the epigraph, was to
crow like a rooster in
the morning ”to wake my neighbors up. ” Much of ”Walden” is Thoreau's account of how he stripped life down to its essentials.
What are two ways Thoreau is encouraging us to live our life?
Thoreau says that every man is “tasked” to some sort of moral obligation for a self-awakening, for every man to elevate his life, but how? Thoreau points toward two ways to get there, first
making a “conscience endeavor”
, or making the effort to thoughtful, deliberate mental effort in order to wake oneself up.
Why did Thoreau go to the woods?
On July 4, 1845, Henry David Thoreau decided it was time to be alone. He settled in a forest on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and built himself a tiny cabin. “
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately
,” he famously wrote in Walden.
Does Thoreau feel lonely?
In Walden, Thoreau separates himself from society to live on his own and become self-reliant. During his time at Walden pond he is on his own living and surviving, however,
he never seems to be lonely
. In fact, he comes across as joyous while in his state of isolation.
What do men frequently say to Thoreau?
Men frequently say to me, “
I should think you would feel lonesome down there, and want to be nearer to folks, rainy and snowy days and nights especially
.” I am tempted to reply to such—This whole earth which we inhabit is but a point in space.
Why did Thoreau choose to live alone at two and a half years?
Thoreau lived on the shore of Walden Pond because
he wanted to try living simply as a sort of experiment
. … Thoreau moved to the woods of Walden Pond to learn to live deliberately. He desired to learn what life had to teach him. He moved to the woods to experience a purposeful life.
What does it take to reawaken and keep ourselves awake?
“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical
aids
, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour.
Which is one of the main themes of Walden?
One of the most important themes of Walden is
the necessity of self-reliance
. Thoreau believes that this is the ultimate virtue, something that speaks to our essence as human beings.
What does Thoreau mean by awake in where I lived and what I lived for?
To be awake is to be alive
. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake.” He is saying that most people get into a routine of doing the same, probably boring, tasks everyday.
What is Thoreau's style?
Thoreau's writing style is
dense with metaphor
, and filled with sentences that pile on observation after observation, and reflection upon reflection, until, before you know it, you've gotten to the end of the paragraph without crossing nary a period.
Why would Thoreau crow like a rooster to wake up his neighbors?
Thoreau refers back to the fables of Reynard the Fox, a European folkloric character who was often opposed by Chanticleer, a rooster who would crow
to warn farmers that Reynard was after their livestock
.
What tone is Thoreau in Walden?
The tone is one of
great confidence and joy
; the pages to follow will be the narrator's optimistic proclamation of the richness and fullness of his life at Walden Pond.
