First published in Antaeus in late 1986 "Forever Virgin: The American View of America" was written by Noel Perrin. This essay effectively warns American of their lavish conquering of our "Forever Virgin" land. This land that he shows is coming quickly to an end of untouched nature. Nearly anyone can understand from his analogies of popular writers and historical facts that the land was and is seen as "inexhaustibly nourishing" (Perrin 643). Noel Perrin leads us with the meaning of our relationship between humans and nature, and how it is natural for us to perceive the country now as everlasting of its space. This essay prevails a message that is strongly felt as the reader comprehends Perrin's repeated and grasped intent.
             Humans and nature have been confused by many. As Perrin suggests, it is a word with many meanings that "if you looked it up turns our to have twelve meanings, plus eight more submeanings" (643). Robert Frost, a well known poet, once wrote a poem on the diverse meaning of the subject: nature. He writes this poem in an argument towards a fellow college official, Savage Landor whom is another poet, essayist, and literary critic. Perrin uses these writers as examples of how difficult it is to define and fully understand nature. Perrin states that his meaning of nature is "more than pretty scenery, but slightly less than the whole goddam machinery" (644). He extracts this statement from the feuding poets. As Americans who do not take in consideration for the living nature and aspects of its rapid distinction, Perrin reminds us with his sarcasm of nature being "so bounteous that we could never possibly run short of anything" (647). This sarcasm creates a powerful way to grab the readers attention toward what they may really feel and realizing Perrin's point. Of course we may see nature as resilient as "it can still absorb anything we do" (P
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