I am very sure that there are people who admire paintings of a fine nature scene, and they surely feel that it is our closest connection with nature. Words are not the only way to express oneself in a connecting way with nature. This brings me to another sweeping generalization that Emerson makes in the body of this essay. He actually makes the statement that words to a song are not poetry in a sense. Being a musician, I strongly disagree with such a statement.
Song lyrics can be just as touching as any other type of poetry.
In fact, this type of poetry has another added bonus besides the words. Music itself can even stand alone in painting a very vibrant picture of nature with no words at all. This is more of an accomplishment, because the author is not allowed to use words in his sound painting. Music that describes nature without the use of language is still using symbolism to convey the connection between man and nature. The difference is that a violin might symbolize the wind instead of a bunch of words.