In The Wind in the Willows, nature, though not without its dangers, is presented as a beautiful and beloved place. The animals delight in their natural setting in the English countryside. For example, early in the novel, Mole is delighted to emerge from his underground lair in the spring:

"This is fine!" he said to himself. "This is better than whitewashing!" The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed his heated brow.

The animals feel a kinship with nature that puts them closer to the divine source than humans. In fact, the animal most like a human with his manor house, Toad, is the most divorced from the natural world and tends to see it in terms of ownership. When they are traveling and Toad mentions Rat's river as if he (Rat) owns it, Rat responds, "I don't talk about my river ... You know I don't, Toad." But Rat does confide to Mole that he misses the river, to which he feels a close attachment.

Near the end of the novel, in the chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," Rat and Mole have a mystical experience of the divine as they search for the young Portly, who has been missing for too long. As they come home from the island after their night of searching, they have been touched by the godhead, and the experience is held not in their memories but in a heightened awareness of nature:

On either side of them, as they glided onwards, the rich meadow-grass seemed that morning of a freshness and a greenness unsurpassable. Never had they noticed the roses so vivid, the willow-herb so riotous, the meadowsweet so odorous and pervading.

Nature in this novel is a place of beauty for those who can see it and a way to get closer to the divine source.