Nature Through Literature Pt.1
Books that feature natural spaces: from poetry to epic fantasy.
Le Coeur innombrable by Anna de Noailles
This is de Noaille's first poetry collection, in which she revealed the immense appreciation she felt for nature and life. Her writing is beyond impressive; it reflects her elegance alongside the sensibility she had towards everything bigger than humans: the divine, beauty, and the world with all its mysteries. Unfortunately, this book has not been entirely translated into English yet, although some of the featured poems can be found in the anthology Life of Poems, Poems of a Life, published in 2012 and translated by Norman R. Shapiro.
Songs of Innocence by William Blake
In this poetry collection, Blake talks about childhood, using nature descriptions to portray the purest stage of human development. His works offer both visual and written art, since he beautifully illustrated his poems with natural and sacred imagery.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by Matsuo Bashō
This non-fiction book is Bashō's travel writings during the 17th century. While being a student of Zen Buddhism, he documented his risky journeys through Japan, where he spent months of walking to detach himself from materialism and seek enlightenment. It offers charming nature images in prose and haiku, depicting parts of the world before they were "touched" by industrialization or technology.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Kya is a mysterious woman unfitted to live in civil society; she is also suspected of having murdered Chase Andrews. While the present story unfolds in parallel with the past, we follow Kya also as a young girl, growing up on her own in the marsh, after having been abandoned by her family. Trying to survive, she naturally adapts to the land and her surroundings, becoming one with the wilderness. However, since men are social beings, she organically develops a need for connection, but trusting nature more than humans, she encounters trouble. Eventually, the two parts of the book join together, offering the last piece for the puzzle to be complete.
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
This is the story of Anne, an energetic orphan girl, who is mistakenly given for adoption to Matthew and his sister Marilla. Although they had wished for a boy, and at first are determined to send the young girl back, they eventually change their minds and let her stay. Thus, a brighter chapter begins for all of them in the Green Gables farm, located outside of a small town in Prince Edward Island, where there is a lot of "scope for imagination" and nature is purely vivid.
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
In the long, long past, some rings were created: the Rings of Power and the One Ring that rules them all. If someone possesses all of them, he becomes dangerously powerful. Sauron, the Dark Lord, is very close to achieve that, and is in search of the One, which is now in the hands of Bilbo Baggins. When Frodo, Bilbo's nephew, inherits his uncle's house and personal effects, he is also given the Ring, being presented with a major and dangerous task—to destroy it. Thus, starts a big adventure that leads Frodo and his friends outside of their motherland, where they encounter all kinds of beings, as well as enchanted places.
Note: No AI was used to write this post.