‘An Unrolled but Glorious Fragment’: Spirituality, Imagination, and the Legibility of Nature
Abstract
Traditions relating to the book of nature have long held that nature can be approached as something legible, as a text with spiritual meaning. Modern epistemological, cultural, and philosophical shifts called much of that approach into question. But, in this essay, I argue that Romanticism, especially as exemplified in figures such as Novalis, Wordsworth, and especially Coleridge, provides a powerful response to such disenchantment and points the way towards a non-reactionary, non-anachronistic retrieval of the legibility of nature.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature
Scientific and Historical Analyses
Philosophy and Historical Thought
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Religions
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 81–81
- Publication date
- 11 January 2026
- Language
- EN