Walking  or The Wild is a seminal lecture first delivered by Henry David Thoreau at  the Concord Lyceum on April 23, 1851.  It is comprised of extracts from his journals and was finally published in its final form in the Atlantic Monthly  in 1862.  Thoreau often referred to this work as a sort of introduction to all of his later writings.  It is part of the canon of the transcendental movement.

In this, Thoreau speaks on the importance of nature to humanity.  Despite our ever deepening entrenchment in society, people cannot physically, mentally or spiritually survive without integration with nature.   Walking in nature is spoken of as a sort of self-reflective spiritual act. This work along with Marsh’s Man and Nature and Emerson’s Nature are considered among the most important essays pertinent to the environmental movement.

Walking may be read in its entirety, here

http://www.bartleby.com/28/15.html

For a .pdf of Walking in its original format, please see the following:

Click to access Walking-1.pdf

In the alternative, this work may be heard in audiobook format at: