Ralph Waldo Emerson

1803 - 1882 *

American poet and philosopher

A major American poet, who worked first as an Unitarian priest. In his hometown, Concord, Emerson founded a literary circle called New England Transcendentalism, a hodgepodge of fashionable thoughts, in which participated among others Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Thoreau. During his travels in England he met Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Thomas Carlyle, with whom he maintained a lifelong correspondence from the 1830s and whose opinions of the importance of great historical figures influenced his own writings. Later Emerson became involved in the antislavery movement and worked for women's rights... [read entire biography]

          Source: Public Domain

EMERSON, RALPH WALDO (1803—1882), American poet and essayist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 25th of May 1803. Seven of his ancestors were ministers of New England churches. Among them were some of those men of mark who made the backbone of the American character: the sturdy Puritan, Peter Bulkeley, sometime rector of Odell in Bedfordshire, and afterward pastor of the church in the wilderness at Concord, New Hampshire; the zealous evangelist, Father Samuel Moody of Agamenticus in Main... [read entire biography]

          Source: Public Domain

These essays offer analysis of the author's life and works. Many of them have been submitted by users, and are assigned an Editorial Rating on a scale from one to five stars to assist you in evaluating their worth. See also: Note on Essays, Editorial Policy.

     

No essays about this author have been added yet. Our database is growing rapidly -- check back soon!

     

Miscellaneous

		test -- test http://test Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 190 8 users have rated it an average of 2.25 stars     [rate it]

     

Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor's creed has lent.
All are needed by each one;
Nothing is fair or good alone. -- Each and All.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wiped away the weeds and foam,
I fetched my sea-born treasures home;
But the poor, unsightly, noisome things
Had left their beauty on the shore,
With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar. -- Each and All.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like a church; I like a cowl;
I like a prophet of the soul;
And on my heart monastic aisles
Fall like sweet strains or pensive smiles:
Yet not for all his faith can see
Would I that cowléd churchman be. -- The Problem.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not from a vain or shallow thought
His awful Jove young Phidias brought. -- The Problem.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Out from the heart of Nature rolled
The burdens of the Bible old. -- The Problem.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The hand that rounded Peter's dome,
And groined the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in a sad sincerity;
Himself from God he could not free;
He builded better than he knew:
The conscious stone to beauty grew. -- The Problem.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Earth proudly wears the Parthenon
As the best gem upon her zone. -- The Problem.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Earth laughs in flowers to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;
Who steer the plough, but can not steer their feet
Clear of the grave. -- Hamatreya.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good bye, proud world! I'm going home;
Thou art not my friend; I am not thine. -- Good Bye.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

For what are they all in their high conceit,
When man in the bush with God may meet? -- Good Bye.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

More quotes by this author are available...

Additional searches

Emerson at Encarta Encyclopedia

Emerson at Britannica Encyclopedia

Emerson at Xrefer.com