Worship of Nature

In The Worship of Nature, by John Greenleaf Whittier, Mother Nature seems to grasp the religious prospect better than we do. Whittier, a Quaker, wrote this poem during the romanticism era, where the Industrial Revolution was just beginning to emerge. Due to the technological advances, Whittier believed that religion was not important anymore because people were becoming more civilized and advanced. Throughout the whole poem, many aspects of nature seem to be constantly important in some way. The only problem is that this is a romanticism poem, and we do not see the true important of nature or God. Whittier wrote this poem to say that nature is important because, in nature, we discover the truth; the truth that Nature is more devoted to God than we are. Whittier personifies aspects of nature to exemplify that Nature is, in many ways, more devoted to respecting and praising God.

In the first four stanzas, Whittier first states that Nature has been praising God ever since it was created. However, the personification does not start until he writes that the "waves are kneeling on the strand" just as a human kneels when praying (lines 11-12). A man prays as a sign of respect and dedicating their mind and soul to God. To Whittier, the waves of the ocean is showing its respect by kneeling and praying as "their white locks" bow to the sea (lines 13-14). In the previous stanza, he said that the ocean reflects heaven; however, the ocean also reflects what we perceive about God, or the "priesthood of the sea" (line 16). People see priests as a holy figure, which counsels others and has a broad understanding of the world; they do as God would. The ocean is usually calm, peaceful, and serene, representing our thoughts that God is this person who is forgiving, calm, and wonderful person. The ocean is also able to wreck havoc, with storms, and giant waves, representing the side of God that we fear. In order for nature to stay on God's "good side", they must "pour their...