Rugged Switzerland

Most everyone has seen photographs of the Alps. However, the exposed energy and strength of these mountains and the terrain that surrounds them cannot be captured in a photo. It was not until I saw these peaks that I could truly understand Mary Shelley’s descriptions of her creature and his innate place in this landscape.
After visiting the Jungfrau, Chamonix, and other Swiss cites I can better understand how someone could be inspired to write a novel like Frankenstein. On the days when the rain fell or the fog closed off the world, movements in the distance become menacing. Even on clear days the sight of the desolate rock above the tree line allows for the idea that the only thing that could survive up there would be something supernatural. Humanity does not seem to be enough, our frailties become apparent against such a stark, natural plane.
This setting also inspires the idea that more is possible than any person originally thought. Sitting down around Lake Geneva and looking up at the mountains allows a person to see the beauty of the mountains and be awed by them, but the true Swiss experience comes from walking in the mountains. To walk in the rough terrain, to see the terrifying distance below, as well as the unforgiving heights above is a raw experience when a human can truly feel his/her separation from what is natural. With these views surrounding a person, the idea that strange and shocking things are possible becomes not only acceptable, but knowable.
Having seen the heights and depths of the stark, foreboding landscapes that Mary Shelley described, I can no longer see her words as Romantic techniques. Her creation seems to be an organic part of the landscape, an extension of humanities necessary absence in this region. The Swiss landscape seems to have been created for Mary Shelley’s creature.

Final Post-- Where is the Power?

One does not know what one is until one examines the “other”. Just as something or someone does not have power simply by existing, but is given power through others who create fear. Such are the ideas that Percy Shelly present in his poem “Mont Blanc.” The relationship between nature and the human mind is daunting and drives the literary content of this poem while Shelly works through his observations. The question of whether power exist in the mind or in nature drives Shelly’s poem as it also exist as a response to William Wordsworth and his views on nature.

While Wordsworth, in his poem “Tintem Abbey”, emphasizes the flow of life from nature to the human mind, Shelly does the opposite. Shelly makes an argument for the power that eternally exists already in the mind. Shelly writes, “My own, my human mind, which passively/Now renders and receives fast influencing, / Holding an unremitting interchange/ With the clear universe of things around” (37-40). While Shelly definitely does not deny the power of nature, he supports the idea that our minds give power to things.

Throughout the poem Shelly makes it clear that the power of nature has a hold over him, the power that he gives to nature. In the second part of the poem Shelly begins addressing the Arve River. Shelly describes a majestic yet dark world “Where Power in likeness of the Arve comes down/ From the gulfs that gird his secret through /Bursting through these dark mountains like the flame” (16-18). As seen in the last quoted lines, Shelly takes on a particular technique that persists throughout the poem. By capitalizing the word “power” Shelly emphasizes the word and meaning even more. This technique is seen often in poetry and was especially made famous by Emily Dickinson.

The peak of the poem seems to come with the appearance of Mont Blanc. Shelly paints in words the process of the mind trying to encompass what the eyes see. Mont Blanc seems to include all of what the word “power” means. Shelly describes a powerful nature and mountain with “a mysterious tongue/ Which teaches awful doubt, or faith so mild, / So solemn, so serene, that man may be/ But for such faith with nature reconciled” (75-78). Shelly’s description of nature seems to be open and transparent, like it has the ability to be molded to the curves of the individual mind.

Shelly’s views on the human mind seem to have the power to be linked to nature, be killed by nature and triumph over nature. However, it is clear that Shelly thinks man is superior to nature because nature would be nothings without man thinking about it. In the last stanza Shelly reflects on a hidden strength that rules over things. Shelly’s power seemed to end up residing in the art that the mind creates. Where nature and man seem to create ambiguities, for Shelly and others alike art holds a deeper truth.

Final Post: Reflections on Coleridge's "Chamouny; The Hour Before Sunrise. A Hymn"

In Chamouny; The Hour Before Sunrise. A Hymn, Samuel Coleridge calling on God through nature. He asks himself to awake and then the mountains to join him in his calling of God. It is written, "Hand and voice,/ Awake, awake! And though, my heart, awake!/ Awake, ye rocks! Ye forest pines, awake!/ Green fields and icy cliffs, all join my hymn!" (Coleridge lines 23-26). He is calling on nature to worship God as he does. He refers to the mountain itself as his "co-herald" and asks that it "Wake, oh wake, and utter praise!" (line 33). He then asks several questions of who made the mountains and all of their glory, asking about its streams, the icy dens, jagged rocks, and in general, the mountain's very being.
Coleridge spends a great deal of time personifying the mountains. He gives them qualities of joy, fury, and strength (line 43). He asks who made these mountains, and who commanded them to be as they are. For this reason he personifies them, asking who allowed them to have these qualities. He refers to a mighty voice which is slightly confusing, because it is not entirely clear as to whether he thinks the mighty voice is God or nature. It is as if he wants to hear the mighty voice of nature, but he wants to hear it praise God for being created.
In the end of the poem Coleridge makes it fairly obvious that he wants all nature to sing with him in praise to God for creation. The last line of the poem, "Earth with her thousand voices calls on God!" (line 78) shows that he intends to praise God for Earth and nature-- but that he also wants nature to take part in praise for being created.

Refreshed and Restored

Now that I am back home, I must think about how the Romantic authors viewed their own homecomings to places like London and Paris. Leaving the fresh mountain air and breathing again the smog of the city, I feel connected to the idea of the mountains as a cleansing and transformative place. The act of travelling, almost as much as the destination itself, has filtered my thoughts and body, as well as my mind.

The Romantics were all about the travel, the process of removing oneself from "home" and going to a place of otherness. This causes the place of comfort and stability to be held in contrast to new and different surroundings. By seeing the ways the Alps differed from Cincinnati, I can see what the Romantics were getting at by trying to get back to nature.

The re-emerging views of nature as a sentient life force, as seen in Percy Shelley's "Mont Blanc," are part of the Romantics new manifesto. Percy shows the wilderness as having

"...a mysterious tongue
which teaches awful doubt, or faith so mild,
so solemn, so serene that man may be
but for such faith with nature reconciled."

Far from saying that modern Switzerland is still a wilderness, we could still see the rawness of the earth, untouched by the hands and machines of man. Coming home and flying over subdivisions and shopping malls, I can see how necessary it was for a removal from all we are familiar with to get the real meaning behind what the Romantics were saying. While I have been to parks and caves, I have never before spent so much time completely surrounded by all that Switzerland offered; forests, mountains, and streams completely true to their geologic birth.

The doubt and faith Shelley talks about is the idea that this planet on which we live lives under us. It is a breathing, moving, changing entity that has as equal a hand in our lives as any deity man has imagined. The Romantics saw in Switzerland a cathedral to nature, and made pilgrimages there to worship and study its power.

The Romantics

Now, what about Romanticism? How has Romanticism influenced our understanding of the Alps and our own view of nature?

The Romantics certainly did change the way modern man would view the Alps. We no longer concentrate on their "horror." We may contemplate their vastness and man's relative smallness by comparison, but we see their beauty and we see them as an adventure! How many hikers with special hiking gear have we seen here! Men and women do not run from the Alps; they run to them. I appreciate the Romantics influence upon our image of the Alps, and the whole paradigm shift. I do believe it would have been more interesting/life-changing to have read their works before our minds were already removed from the image of old myths and residual fear of the mountains. How we would have wondered...and contemplated the meaning of those words (of the Romantic poets). So, it is hard to say how much our lives would have changed if we were to have read their works 150 plus years ago. We might have agreed. We might have disagreed! Nevertheless, we are indebted to them at this time in history and to the writers before them who recognized the beauty in the Alps (the mountain flowers, streams, and pines). Due to the writings of such individuals, I do not fear the mountains, and I was able to approach them without fear (though I do see the potential danger in the glaciers). I am glad to have experienced the new truth of their loveliness and beauty. Aren't you? ;D

Suisse

I wanted to say that the Alps are ever as fresh with me today as they were a year ago! They formed a special presence--they and the fresh, Swiss air. Ah! What unexpected little treasures were to be found there, at least for someone like me. I hope to one day visit Lake Brienz (in Bern) which I saw from the train but never personally experienced! Its waters were so beautiful. I will surely go there!

The Adventure Part Four

Well as our trip comes to a close I am left changed and with many different thoughts and questions to think about. This trip allowed a wonderful balance of learning both hands on and textually. Through seeing what is and has been seen by many great writers and thinkers, I have been inspired to reexamine my own thoughts and ideas. I am very sad to leave, as I love seeing the splendor of the Alps every morning and evening. Though home is a wonderful thing to have, I have found that traveling is a wonderful home and I am very comfortable doing so. Two things have struck me most deeply throughout this trip. The first thing that strikes me is how people are inspired to write great works, be it literature, music, or poetry. In classes I am given advice on how to find inspiration for my writing. "Read other authors great works", "Read the classics", "Listen to great music", "Read wonderful poetry", "Attend poetry readings", etc. All of these are wonderful ideas to find inspiration for writing, however I am curious as to where original inspiration comes from. If I am constantly seeking inspiration through other individuals thoughts and ideas can any of mine truly be original. To be completely honest, I have had the worst writers block of my life for months. I am capable of writing, however, what I do write is just bad writing. I realized one reason is that when I try to write I first seek other writings or songs for inspiration and then my own thoughts are clouded by the thoughts of others. This has all dawned on me through this trip and by looking at the Alps I think of Byron and his inspiration coming from things that don't include words, such as emotion, religion, and nature. THAT is inspiring to me.
The second thing that struck me (and this is no surprise) is the awesomeness of the nature with which I have been surrounded for three weeks. I traditionally try to appreciate nature around me, be it a sunset in Bowling Green Kentucky or a starry night in the countryside of Indiana, I usually try not to take my surroundings for granted especially the sky. But here, it is just so amazing. So beautifully created and mapped out by God alone. Truly a work of art. While spending the day in a hot spring looking up and being surrounded by some of the most majestic mountains known to man... I was in awe of God's work. And so utterly thankful for it.
If God created the Earth so amazingly, imagine how he created us. Our individual selves are so awesome and amazing... our souls are metaphorically like the Alps in greatness. The amount of beauty put into the Alps shows God's work, imagine the work that could be in us.
I guess what I am trying to say is my list of "counting my blessings" has grown quite rapidly in these past three weeks.

I have of course been thinking about several of our discussions on evil and danger in nature and man-- some of those thoughts can be seen in my previous posts. I would like to take my last moments here to appreciate the beauty and good rather than dwell and contemplate the bad of the Alps.

Godspeed to Switzerland, until we meet again!

GOD BLESS!