Grasping Order Out Of Entropy: A Study Of Transcendentalism In A.R.Ammons' Poetry

A.R.Ammons is one of the greatest poets of contemporary America.His poems describe nature on the surface,but contain a lot of philosophical thinking,with focus on transcendentalist pursuit of the spirit.As claimed by Harold Bloom,Ammons “brings to poetry a fidelity to the details of nature and a contemporary,conversational tone,thus revitalizing a significant portion of traditional American literature.” In addition,Ammons' poems usually originate from daily life and combine life and art perfectly with the poet's distinct expression,demonstrating his profound insight and infinite wisdom while making the poems thought-provoking.Taking the Transcendentalist theory as its framework,this thesis attempts to explore the reflection of Emerson's transcendentalism in Ammons' poetry,as embodied in his views of nature,philosophy and art.Emersonian Transcendentalism has no shortage of attention to the abstract philosophical issue of “One: Many” while exploring the relationship between nature and Oversoul.He believes that under the complex and complicated appearances,all things actually share the same essential nature,and he also tries to achieve the unity of the whole and the part in the literary creation.Ammons' poetry follows the core of Emersonian Transcendentalism,and pays attention to nature and meditation,not only focusing on the infinite pursuit of the spirit,but also upholding the exploration and grasp of order through entropy,which is the continuation of Emersonian Transcendentalism in the 20 th century.In addition to introduction and conclusion,this thesis is composed of three chapters.The first chapter focuses on Ammons' view of nature.The philosophy of life revealed by nature in his poetry is similar to the Oversoul advocated by Emerson.The poet picked pieces of revelations given by the Oversoul from the complex nature world with his deep insight and conveyed them to the readers through his excellent writing skills.The second chapter turns to the analysis of the philosophical view embodied in his poetry.For the “One: Many” problem of philosophical abstraction,Ammons' similar understanding with Emerson are revealed in the lines.Emerson emphasizes that the operation of all things has an internal rule that interconnects them,and Ammons,through his own poetry writing,presents a seemingly chaotic “Many” and an orderly center “One”,which complement each other and coexist in harmony.The third chapter mainly focuses on the Ammons' view of art.By analyzing the forms,content,writingtechniques,and wording of Ammons' poetry,this thesis presents the numerous fragments and well-organized unity in his works,aiming to expound the unique style of his poetry creation,at the same time revealing the commonalities between Ammons' and Emerson's understanding of poetry.Although minute observation and depiction of the natural world win him the label of “a nature poet”,Ammons' thoughts and aesthetics are deeply rooted in Emersonian Transcendentalism,and thus indebted to what Harold Bloom called the American sublime tradition.Taking advantage of his great perception and skillful application of writing technique,Ammons attempts to grasp order out of entropy in nature,presenting a harmonious coexistence of diversity and unity,at the same time unifying nature and human mind in his poetry.