At once born from the wilderness, yet inherently opposed to it, America’s shifting relationship with the “untamed” can be most clearly observed in the writings of the Colonial and Romantic eras. Colonial authors’ use of the written word to at once define and defy the turbulent world around them set a precedent for codifying one’s unique experiences with the wilderness into writing. Romantic authors later broadened the use of writing to not only define the wilderness, but also to explore and expand it by using a symbolic view of the natural world as a tool for introspection. When combined, the works of Colonial and Romantic authors form one piece of the greater American wilderness, a patchwork of the complex relationships Americans share with the “uncultivated,” “pathless,” or “bewildering” aspects of the world around them (Webster, “Wilderness”).
