The God of Nature Poetry

In graduate school I wrote a paper comparing the way several distinct cultural collections of poems approached the concept of the 'other' or the supernatural that is found in nature. This post is not a summary of that paper, but an affirmation that a poet's sense that there is something 'else' in nature is almost always right, but that the poet runs the risk of missing the whole point if he or she focuses only on the feelings that nature elicits. I'll quote a few of the poems that I cited in my paper:

Paiute Ghost Dance Song

              Snowy earth

comes

              swirling

    ahead

         of the whirlwind

              ahead

                             of the whirlwind

              snowy earth

                                       swirling

(this is a traditional song of the Paiute tribe that has been recorded as a poem)

Headwaters

Noon in the mountain plain:

There is a scant telling of the marsh –

A log, hollow and weather-stained,

An insect at the mouth, and moss –

Yet waters rise against the roots,

Stand brimming to the stalks. What moves?

What moves on this archaic force

Was wild and welling at the source.

(by N. Scott Momaday)

I could go on and on, but the point here is pretty clear - nature often catches us up and gives a sense that there is something other than ourselves. From these examples, it is a quick jump over to William Wordsworth, who codified the otherness of nature in his epic, "The Prelude" where he recounts times of physical illness and euphoria in response to his experiences in nature. All of these poets look at nature and sense something greater than and different from themselves. Where this gets interesting for me is that a common view of this experience is to say that religion has invariably sprung from a culture's association with nature. People and cultures, critics say, attempt to explain  the vastness of nature by creating myths telling how the nature around them came to be and how to live in harmony with it. The theory is that the cradle of all religions is a desire to connect with and find explanations for an overwhelming experience (often a terrifying one) in nature.

This makes a certain kind of sense. If you look at the greek system of gods that govern the natural elements, the theory holds some water. Obviously, the Greeks' connection to nature, and their dependence on it for prosperous lives lead to a complex relationship with gods that controlled that nature. The religion provided a way for the supplicant to appease those gods in order to benefit from their, and nature's good will.

Another paper I wrote touched on a different perspective of this theory about nature's role in creating religion by exploring The Kokinshu. The Kokinshu was the first emergence of a Japanese artistic aesthetic. But it moved beyond a simple poetic sensibility. It was part of the Japanese move away from Chinese cultural dominance in the 10th century and the collection sought to define the essence of Japan - its soul. The book is made up of thousands of poems that largely tell of the connection between the poets' experience and what they saw in nature. For them, there was an inextricable relationship between the way they experienced daily life and how they experience nature. Here is an example:

258

    is this merely the

dew of an autumn night        or

    have the red tears of

the wild geese dyed the fields with

    the myriad hues of fall

Here, the sadness felt by the poet echoes throughout and finds a comforter in nature. Throughout the book, this dynamic unfolds for the reader. These poets were connected to nature in a profound way and while the specifics of Shintoism are difficult to nail down, one central tenet is balance with nature. The poems of the Kokinshu express this attempt to live in harmony with nature in a graceful and succinct way. To me, this is really fascinating, because what the Bible has to say about nature and about people aligns with the experience of all the previous writings on the one hand, but also transcends them on the other. Take a look at some of the poetry in the Bible.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech, 
And night unto night reveals knowledge. 
There is no speech nor language 
Where their voice is not heard. 
Their line has gone out through all the earth, 
And their words to the end of the world. 
In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, 
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

(Psalm 19:1-6)

This piece tells a different relationship between the 'other' and nature - that nature exists as God's mouthpiece. The vastness felt in nature is an expression of the intense otherness of God to humans and it shows the power and grandeur of God in a way that should and does inspire awe in us. Nature, then, does not spawn religion, but points to the true source of the spiritual - God. So it is right for poets and writers to identify something outside of themselves that is different from and greater than themselves. But, as has happened throughout history, it is wrong for that difference to become the foundation of one's understanding of this 'other' being.

Isn't that why the poet continues his Psalm with an equally beautiful description of God's word? As a poet myself, the shift in focus from the vastness of the heavens to the richness of the Law puzzled me. It is unexpected and seemingly jarring. But when I realized that the poet is writing about the ways that God communicates himself, and that the overwhelming awe found in nature is only one of the ways, in fact, it is the lesser way, then the shift in focus between verse 6 and 7 makes sense. With that in mind, read the next couple of lines from Psalm 19.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,

Yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

The poet, then, praises nature for what it reveals about God, but he does not stop there, nor does his system of belief arise from there, but rather from a written communication about God provided by God Himself - namely, the Law. And it is this true communication that is the great treasure, even above truly moving and awe-inspiring experiences in the power and beauty of nature.

Sadly, it is not enough to simply point out this distinction. While not from a passage of poetry, the Bible has strong things to say about what happens when people elevate the experience of nature over that of the Word of God. See how Romans 1:18-23 (and beyond that if you care to read on your own) perfectly describe what happens when looking to nature supersedes studying what God has said about himself:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. "

The God of nature and of nature poetry is powerful, and awe-inspiring, and beautiful. But nature cannot be the basis of spiritual experience, as so many religions and poets have thought.  At best it is the threshold of God's house. It is the Word of God that gives experiences, insights, and wisdom even more profound than what nature's best could offer.

I love to read of how other poets have seen eternity in the natural world. I am challenged by the fact that some of them felt deeper things in nature than I ever have. But I grieve that such profound experiences were never enough on their own to lead them to the satisfaction of their souls. For the God of nature has not left a wind or a rainstorm to speak for himself. Those are only guideposts. They are beacons to light our way to the true source of spiritual understanding - namely the Bible.