Thoreau is one of the most read and most influential of American authors, with a readership and a following around the world. His writings have been reprinted countless times, both in English and in translation into many foreign languages. His Walden is required reading in American literature courses at the […]
Read more Henry David Thoreau Thoreau’s Reputation and InfluenceHenry David Thoreau Selected Chronology of Thoreau’s Writings
1827 Thoreau wrote student essay “The Seasons,” his earliest known composition 1837 Thoreau began to keep a journal First published piece, obituary notice of Anna Jones, appeared in Concord newspaper Yeoman’s Gazette 1840 Published pieces in The Dial (poem “Sympathy”; essay “Aulus Perseus Flaccus”) 1841 Published poetry in The Dial […]
Read more Henry David Thoreau Selected Chronology of Thoreau’s WritingsHenry David Thoreau Introduction to Thoreau’s Writing
Henry David Thoreau was an exacting practitioner of the art of writing. Although he exulted in the intuitive, creative genius that he felt within himself, throughout his life he was a disciplined craftsman who worked hard to revise and refine his material. As a writer, he drew strength from an […]
Read more Henry David Thoreau Introduction to Thoreau’s WritingHenry David Thoreau Life and Background of Thoreau
Although an author’s biography is always to some degree relevant to the study of his or her writings, a remarkable unity existed between Henry David Thoreau’s life and his work. Thoreau’s deliberately lived life and his writings were dual expressions of the same underlying principles and aspirations. One of the […]
Read more Henry David Thoreau Life and Background of ThoreauEmerson’s “Hamatreya” Major Themes
“Hamatreya” presents a number of contrasts, each one of which highlights the central, paradoxical turning of the tables on the value traditionally placed by men upon land ownership. In the poem, Emerson opposes materialism and a more spiritual mysticism, reality and illusion, transience and permanence, separateness and unity, and human […]
Read more Emerson’s “Hamatreya” Major ThemesEmerson’s “Hamatreya” Summary and Analysis
The poem “Hamatreya” was based on a passage from the Vishnu Purana (one of the traditional Vedantic mythologies). Emerson copied the passage into his journal in 1845. “Hamatreya” first appeared in print in Poems, published by Chapman in London and by Munroe in Boston late in 1846 (the title pages […]
Read more Emerson’s “Hamatreya” Summary and AnalysisEmerson’s “Experience” Major Themes
The Difficulty of Reconciling Philosophy and Life The basic view of the relationship between God, man, and nature expressed in “Experience” is essentially that found in Emerson’s earlier idealistic expressions of Transcendental philosophy. Emerson stresses that God is the source of man’s unlimited strength and power, and that insight into […]
Read more Emerson’s “Experience” Major ThemesEmerson’s “Experience” Summary and Analysis
Emerson’s essay “Experience” was first published without having been delivered as a lecture. It appeared in 1844 in his Essays: Second Series (published in Boston by James Munroe in October of 1844 and in London by John Chapman in November of 1844). Essays: Second Series, including “Experience,” was issued in […]
Read more Emerson’s “Experience” Summary and AnalysisEmerson’s “The Divinity School Address” Major Themes
Man as Outlet to the Divine Emerson bases all that he says to the graduating class of Harvard Divinity School upon the intimate relationship between man and God earlier put forth in Nature. At the beginning of the address, he introduces the unity of God, man, and nature that he […]
Read more Emerson’s “The Divinity School Address” Major ThemesEmerson’s “The Divinity School Address” Summary and Analysis
Emerson delivered “The Divinity School Address” at Harvard on July 15, 1838, by invitation. The address was first published in August 1838, by James Munroe, in an edition of 1,000 copies, which sold quickly. It first appeared in England as part of the collection Orations, Lectures, and Addresses (London: H.G. […]
Read more Emerson’s “The Divinity School Address” Summary and Analysis