Essays · Chapter
The Naming of Them explained
Thoreau muses on the delightful challenge of naming the many varieties of wild apples, proposing imaginative, vernacular names drawn from nature, human experience, and local landmarks, and lamenting that even the classical languages would b
What happens
Thoreau muses on the delightful challenge of naming the many varieties of wild apples, proposing imaginative, vernacular names drawn from nature, human experience, and local landmarks, and lamenting that even the classical languages would be insufficient to capture their diversity.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and Simplicity
Thoreau celebrates the wild, uncultivated apples and the simple joy of naming them after natural phenomena and everyday life.
The Role of the Poet and Writer
Thoreau acts as a poet-namer, using creative language and classical allusion to give identity to the overlooked wild apples.
Characters to notice
- Henry David Thoreau
The author and narrator, who playfully invents names for wild apple varieties and reflects on the abundance of nature.
Key passages
“Not if I had a hundred tongues, a hundred mouths, An iron voice, could I describe all the forms And reckon up all the names of these wild apples.”
Even with superhuman eloquence, it would be impossible to fully catalog the variety and names of wild apples.
Thoreau adapts a classical line from Virgil (via Bodaeus) to emphasize the overwhelming diversity of wild apples.