“Beachy Head” by Charlotte Smith contains one of the earliest commentaries on man’s concerning obsession with the material I have ever come across. Starting with line 56, Smith belittles the envious admiration with which man stares upon the most valuable of gems: “These are the toys of Nature”. Smith employs a sublime, picturesque nature to contrast the brightest gems as poor and paltry when compared to the fair star (crescent moon) that “throws / Her pearly brilliance on the trembling tide” (Smith 99). The material greed of man is continually emphasized later in the poem when the shepherd risks his life in “The heaviest snow-storm of December’s night” to profit from the trafficking of contraband (Smith 185). In another contrast, Smith states that “More happy is the hind,” a family man who lives a simple life with a few sheep as his best possession. Smith describes the man’s life as “Rude, and but just remov’d from savage life” (Smith 207). To Smith, the true savage life is the life of luxury in which one often enjoys nothing. It is unfortunate that a man such as the hind may look in envy upon those in luxurious cars, unaware that a “rude” existence is one of a much happier quality. These reflections bring Smith to question the true nature of happiness. She seems to conclude that human ignorance and desire lead to ultimate unhappiness. Smith only reveals a sense of happiness in the sublimity of nature. Like Cole stated in his post, the death of the lonely hermit releases his from his earthly bondage and enters his spirit into a better region, or otherwise a sublime existence separate from unhappy human conditions.
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