East and west are oceans apart in the thinking and the way of living. East is spiritual from times immemorial and west is materialistic during its short life compared to east. But when it comes to nature, no difference at all in their thinking, or understanding and appreciation. Perhaps living either in the east or the west, all are human beings and all are living in nature sharing its glory, splendour, and resources that it provides for the sustenance of life. This is the common human bondage.

Nature sings to everybody, but only the ones with a sensitive heart can hear those songs. It causes immense joy to some, and some are untouched. What are they made of? Exactly the same, but it is the mind that causes that difference. Happiness blooms from within for a sensitive person when he sees the seasons change or flowers bloom in spring, or a simple rain can be musical to a creative mind. Natural pleasures are eternal and evergreen and it is the only source to lift the mind even on a dullest and sad day.

As far as east is concerned poetry existed from Vedic times until the modern times. In the west it is more recent, perhaps from early in the last millinium. In the ancient times one can quote Kalidas and in the modern times Rabindranaadh Tagore and in between people like Kabir or Sarojini Naidu or Meera etc. In the west as well, there are several famous names like William Wordsworth ,Shelly, Keats, Tennyson etc, who described nature in abundance. The lines that follow below are a collection and compilation from various sources, and NOT MY ORIGINAL

If the rain could speak it would be like this -

The voice of the thunder declares my arrival.
The rainbow announces my departure.
I emerge from the heart of the sea, and soar with breeze.
When I see a field in need, I descend and embrace the flowers and trees in a million little ways.

If the rain sings it would be like this -

I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven by the gods, nature then takes me to adorn her fields and valleys,
I am beautiful pearls plucked from the crown of the emperor by the daughter of the dawn to embellish the gardens,
When I cry the hills laugh,
When I bow all things are elated.
The field and the cloud are lovers, and between them I am a messenger of mercy, I quench the thirst of one and I cure the ailment of the other.

From the Vedas - water is described as follows.

“Water, you are the one that brings us the life.You are the source of nourishment that gives us strength. We rejoice at your existence. We drink you with joy, as babies drink the milk from their mother. And when we swallow you we receive love. Water, carry away all my sins and my failures, all that has been bad in my life. I seek you today and I plunge into your wetness. Drown me in splendour.”

Similarly there is so much beauty in the spring and there are so many poems like Wordsworth’s Daffodils and Cuckoo.

Daffodils starting with
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

And finishing with -

In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude.
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

As it is too long only the beginning and end are mentioned to show how it affects the moods for the people.

The poets have used different words to describe different moods of the people in their writings. Here are some -

The rain wept down the window - to indicate the sad mood
The wind screamed through the branches - to indicate the tense mood
The breeze murmured through the branches - to indicate the happy mood
The snow smothered the town - to indicate the claustrophobic mood.

Some poets have used nature to personify like this -

The stars winked at me
The book read itself to me
The tree whispered in the wind.

Autumn in the mind of poets of the east and west is described like this -

“The autumn comes as a maiden fair in slenderness and grace, with nodding rice-stems in her hair, and lilies in her face. In flowers of grass she is clad, and as she moves along, birds greet her with their cooing gladness like bracelets’ tinkling song.” Kalidas

A westerner’s description is as follows -

The name of it is autumn
The hue of it is blood
An artery on the hill
A vein along the road

Like this an awful lot can be written about nature and how different people felt about it, how it stimulated and became an inspiration for them. So I finish with some nice quotations to provide food for thought.

“Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds,
You can grow flowers in it or you can grow weeds in it.”

“The beautiful spring comes and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive”

“The goal of life is to make your heart beat match the beat of the universe,
To match your nature with the nature” - Joseph Campbell.

Just as the nature doesn’t show any discrimination, and just as the creator who created it doesn’t show any discrimination to all the human beings, in the same way if the humans stop discriminating by virtue of their colour, creed, nationality and behave as universal brotherhood, wouldn’t there be a heaven on earth? Something for everybody to think about and make other people’s lives better as much as they can in their limited capacity. That is the lesson the humans have to learn from the nature.