Introduction To Literature And Environment ENGL22 course reader

248 Pages·2020·20.736 MB·English

by  Ken Hiltner

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Introduction to Literature and the Environn1ent
Contents
The Myth of Gilga,nesh .. ................... ............................................................... ...... 1
A Forest's Journey by John Perlin ......................................................................... 63
Ge11esis ................................................................................................................... 7 4
Lynn White Jr., "The Historic Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis" ............................... 78
Heraclites Cosmic Fragments ................................................................................ 91
Albernethy Introductio11 to Western Metaphysics .................................................. 93
Hesiod .... ......... .......... ............... .... .............. .. ..... ................... .... ............... .......... ..... . 102
Theocritus ............................................................... ................................................ 111
Virgil Eel og ues ....................................................................................................... 122
Virgil Georgics ............... ...................... ...................... ................... ................... ...... 127
Varro On Agrici, lture .. ........................................................................................... 13 7
The Drea,n of the Rood .......................................................................................... 145
Chaucer Tl1e Nun's Priest's Tale ....... ... ...................... ...................................... ...... 149
Donne The Ann;versaries ....................................................................................... 156
Lanyer "The Description of Cooke Hain" .............................................................. 159
Jonson "To Penshurst" & "The Praises of a Country Life" ................................... 162
Shakespeare, As You Lil ee It ................................................................................... 167
Denha111 Cooper's Hi! l ........................................................................................... 203
Philips "A Country Life" ........................................................................................ 210
Milton Paradise Lost ......... ..................................................................................... 213
Marvell n1ower poen1s ............................................................................................ 223
Blake .. .... ................... ............... .... .............. .. ..... ................... .... ............... .......... ..... . 226
Wordsworth ....... .... ... ........ .......................... ......................... ................... ... .... ........ . 228
Shelley .................................................................................................................... 236

A
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1
PROLOGUE
H
had seen everything. had experienced all emotions;
from exaltation to despair, had be.en granted a vision
into the great mystery. the secret places,
'
the primeval days before the Flood. He had journeyed
to the edge of the world and made his way back, exhausted
.
but whole. He had carved his trials on stone tablets,
had restored the holy Eanna Temple and the massive
wall of Uruk, which no city on earth can equal.
See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun.
'
.
Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine,
approach the E-anna Temple, sacred to Ishtar,
a temple that no king has equaled in size or beauty.
w4
on the wall of Uruk, follow its course
around the city. inspect its mighty foundations,
examine its brickwork. how masterfully it is built,
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70 + GILGAMESH
observe the land it encloses: the palm trees, the gardens.
the orchards. the glorious palaces and temples, the shops
and marketplaces, the houses, the public squares.
Find the cornerstone and under it the copper box
that is marked with his name. Unlock it. Open the lid.
T~e out the tablet of lapis lazuli. .R ead
how Gilgamesh suffered all and accomplished all.
3
BOOK I
Surpassing all kings; powerful and tall
beyond all others. violent. splepdid.
a wild bull of a man, unvanqu .ished leader.
hero in the front lines, beloved by his soldiers-
fortress they called him, protector oft he people,
raging.flood that destroys all defenses- ·
two- thirds divine and one-third htiman,
son of King Lugalband~ who became
a god, and of the goddess Ninsun,
he .opened the mountain passes, dug wells
on the slopes, crossed the vast ocean, sailed
to the rising sun. journeyed to the edge
of the world. in search of eternal life,
and once he found Utnapishtim- the man
who survived the Great Flood and was made immortal-
4