Bridging Nature and Transcendentalism Through Poetry: Athar Tahir's Poetry and Thoreau's Ideals

Abstract

The study seeks to investigate transcendentalism in and through nature, to discover oneself and the truth behind him. As a result, various seasons and natural elements depict his inner turmoil. Athar Tahir's poetic collection, Just Beyond the Physical depicts communion with nature, influenced by the Romantic literary movement. The sound, musicality, and image depiction draw him closer to the romantics. Furthermore, he extends nature beyond its physical existence. Thoreau presents a version of "applied" Transcendentalism. The concept of nature is central to this thinking, not just the more abstract Emersonian notion of nature, but a wild nature beyond humans. Words and phrases with the concepts of wildness and wilderness are gathered using qualitative analysis, and they are then equated with man and transcendentalism. Thoreau's essay Walking serves as the pivotal point for the research, wherein he emphasizes the importance of mobility and walking in the wilderness. This research examines Thoreau's view of walking as a form of transcendence as he famously stated, "Wildness is the preservation of the world."

Keywords; Thoreau, Transcendentalism, Athar Tahir, Walking, Wildness, Wilderness.