Quote by Henry David Thoreau

When I consider that the nobler animal have been exterminated here - the cougar, the panther, lynx, wolverine, wolf, bear, moose, dear, the beaver, the turkey and so forth and so forth, I cannot but feel as if I lived in a tamed and, as it were, emasculated country... Is it not a maimed and imperfect nature I am conversing with? As if I were to study a tribe of Indians that had lost all it's warriors...I take infinite pains to know all the phenomena of the spring, for instance, thinking that I have here the entire poem, and then, to my chagrin, I hear that it is but an imperfect copy that I possess and have read, that my ancestors have torn out many of the first leaves and grandest passages, and mutilated it in many places. I should not like to think that some demigod had come before me and picked out some of the best of the stars. I wish to know an entire heaven and an entire earth.

Summary

In this quote, the author expresses their lamentation regarding the extinction of various noble and majestic animals in their environment, including cougars, panthers, wolves, and bears. They feel as if they live in a tamed and diminished country, implying that the absence of these creatures has disturbed the natural balance and beauty. The author compares the incompleteness of their interacting with nature to studying a tribe of Indians without the presence of its warriors. They long for a complete and unblemished experience of the natural world, not one that has been altered or depleted by human interference.