Read This Story: The Calypso Borealis After Earning A

CLEANED: Read This Storythe Calypso Borealisafter Earning A

Read this story The Calypso Borealis After earning a few dollars working on my brother-in-law's farm near Portage [Wisconsin], I set off on the first of my long lonely excursions, botanising in glorious freedom around the Great Lakes and wandering through innumerable tamarac and arbor-vitae swamps, and forests of maple, basswood, ash, elm, balsam, fir, pine, spruce, hemlock, rejoicing in their bound wealth and strength and beauty, climbing the trees, revelling in their flowers and fruit like bees in beds of goldenrods, glorying in the fresh cool beauty and charm of the bog and meadow heathworts, grasses, carices, ferns, mosses, liverworts displayed in boundless profusion. The rarest and most beautiful of the flowering plants I discovered on this first grand excursion was Calypso borealis (the Hider of the North).

I had been fording streams more and more difficult to cross and wading bogs and swamps that seemed more and more extensive and more difficult to force one's way through. Entering one of these great tamarac and arbor-vitae swamps one morning, holding a general though very crooked course by compass, struggling through tangled drooping branches and over and under broad heaps of fallen trees, I began to fear that I would not be able to reach dry ground before dark, and therefore would have to pass the night in the swamp and began, faint and hungry, to plan a nest of branches on one of the largest trees or windfalls like a monkey's nest, or eagle's, or Indian's in the flooded forests of the Orinoco described by Humboldt.

But when the sun was getting low and everything seemed most bewildering and discouraging, I found beautiful Calypso on the mossy bank of a stream, growing not in the ground but on a bed of yellow mosses in which its small white bulb had found a soft nest and from which its one leaf and one flower sprung. The flower was white and made the impression of the utmost simple purity like a snowflower. No other bloom was near it, for the bog a short distance below the surface was still frozen, and the water was ice cold. It seemed the most spiritual of all the flower people I had ever met. I sat down beside it and fairly cried for joy.

It seems wonderful that so frail and lovely a plant has such power over human hearts. This Calypso meeting happened some forty-five years ago, and it was more memorable and impressive than any of my meetings with human beings excepting, perhaps, Emerson and one or two others. When I was leaving the University, Professor J.D. Butler said, "John, I would like to know what becomes of you, and I wish you would write me, say once a year, so I may keep you in sight." I wrote to the Professor, telling him about this meeting with Calypso, and he sent the letter to an Eastern newspaper [The Boston Recorder] with some comments of his own. These, as far as I know, were the first of my words that appeared in print.

How long I sat beside Calypso I don't know. Hunger and weariness vanished, and only after the sun was low in the west I splashed on through the swamp, strong and exhilarated as if never more to feel any mortal care. At length I saw maple woods on a hill and found a log house. I was gladly received. "Where ha ye come fra? The swamp, that awfu' swamp. What were ye doin' there?" etc. "Mony a puir body has been lost in that muckle, cauld, dreary bog and never been found." When I told her I had entered it in search of plants and had been in it all day, she wondered how plants could draw me to these awful places, and said, "It's god's mercy ye ever got out." Oftentimes I had to sleep without blankets, and sometimes without supper, but usually I had no great difficulty in finding a loaf of bread here and there at the houses of the farmer settlers in the widely scattered clearings. With one of these large backwoods loaves I was able to wander many a long wild fertile mile in the forests and bogs, free as the winds, gathering plants, and glorying in God's abounding inexhaustible spiritual beauty bread. Storms, thunderclouds, winds in the woods—were welcomed as friends.

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In this narrative, John Muir vividly describes his deep connection and reverence for the natural world through detailed observations and expressive language. His journey begins with an adventurous exploration of the Great Lakes' wilderness, emphasizing a profound admiration for the diverse flora, especially the Calypso borealis. Muir's poetic diction, such as "rejoicing," "reveling," and "glorying," reflects his joyful engagement with nature’s beauty, illustrating an intimate relationship marked by awe and spiritual appreciation.

As he ventures through challenging terrains—crossing streams, bogs, and swamps—Muir showcases his resilience and awe, portraying nature as both a formidable and divine force. His description of struggling through tangled branches and flooded forests underscores nature's power and unpredictability while highlighting his determination to observe and cherish its wonders. The moment of discovery, where he finds the Calypso on a mossy stream bank, symbolizes a spiritual awakening; the flower’s delicate purity and stillness evoke a sense of divine serenity, reinforcing Muir’s view of nature as a spiritual sanctuary.

Muir’s language continues to emphasize his emotional and philosophical connection. When he describes the Calypso as "the most spiritual of all the flower people," it signifies his deep conviction of nature’s divine quality. His account of sharing his experience with others and the joy of return to human habitation illustrates a harmonious balance between solitude in nature and community. His recounting of the threat of the treacherous swamp underlines nature’s indifferent power but also his reverence for it, seeing storms and winds as "friends" rather than enemies.

The euphony of Muir's diction—words like "blessed," "glorying," "exhilarated"—and the imagery of boundless forests and icy bogs serve to depict nature as an expansive, spiritual realm that offers refuge, inspiration, and a sense of divine presence. His reflective tone demonstrates an appreciation rooted in transcendentalism, seeing nature as an expression of divine beauty and a source of moral and spiritual upliftment.

By detailing his physical struggles and spiritual insights, Muir exemplifies naturalism—the philosophy that emphasizes the influence of environment and instinct on human behavior. It presents nature as a powerful and sometimes indifferent force that shapes human experience but also reveals inherent beauty and divine presence. Muir's writings elevate nature from mere scenery to a spiritual partner, urging us to view the wilderness with reverence and awe. Such reflections reinforce the idea that human beings, though often small and vulnerable within nature’s vastness, are inherently connected to and uplifted by its divine and majestic qualities.

References

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