"And is it that the haze of grief

Makes former gladness loom so great?

The lowness of the present state,

That sets the past in this relief?

Or that the past will always win

A glory from its being far;

And orb into the perfect star

We saw not, when we moved therein?"

While tangential to the poem at large, Tennyson poses interesting questions regarding history. Why does the past almost always seem preferable to the present? In this case, the answer is obvious: Tennyson was not in mourning. Expanding out, however, this question has merit to the larger relationship of man and nature. Why do we glorify our past relationship with nature? The simplicity with which pre-IR civilizations lived is sometimes portrayed as superior to our current situation. While this argument has merit—previous generations had more respect for nature—it excludes much. For one, man has intellectually evolved to such a point that we now better understand nature. While not perfect, we no longer need to live in awe of the natural world. This has permitted us to take advantage of nature--both positively and negatively. The complexities that have subsequently arisen (e.g. those that have made our lives easier) also make the future far less certain. It is there that I believe we (i.e. man) obtain a majority of our comfort in the past. We know what happens when we do not burn hydrocarbons. We don’t know, with full certainty what, in the long term, happens when we do. Such uncertainty breeds tension.