Understanding Poetry Solitude How still it is here in the woods. The trees Stand motionless, as if they did not dare To stir, lest it should...

The poem posted, "Solitude",  is a work written by Henry
David Thoreau. Thoreau was a Transcendentalist. Transcendentalists were artists
(included authors, poets, painters, etc.) who wished to part with culture and society's
doctrines based upon their dislike of empirical
ideologies.

Instead, the Transcendentalists focused upon
the individual. They believed that honest reality came for the understanding of one's
own spirituality. Given the overlap with the Romantic movement, nature was very
important to the Transcendentalists.

Therefore, based upon
the thoughts and ideologies of the Transcendentalists, the poem "Solitude" shows
Thoreau's grounding in nature and finding one's self through one's own appreciation for
nature.

Thoreau enjoyed being alone. The poem helps one to
understand why. In nature, he is able to concentrate on the elements and himself alone.
He, according to a personal interpretation, finds strength and power in the solitude
that nature provides him. While not truly alone, nature is all around, he can listen to
the things which allow him to look with all of his senses.