The Apology Emerson Rhetorical Devices

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The Apology Analysis Well known transcendentalist and writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his poem The Apology, describes his unapologetic nature towards the people misunderstanding his passion and beliefs, as well as his feelings toward the existence of a God. Emerson was born on May 25th, 1803. Ralph Waldo Emerson graduated from Harvard University in 1821. He became a transcendentalist in 1823, these beliefs being what inspired most of his works. Emerson became a licensed and ordained minister by the year 1829. Emerson married Ellen Tucker in 1829 as well. When she died of tuberculosis in 1831, he fell into a state of depression. Her death, added to his own recent crisis of faith, caused him to resign from the church. In 1833 he began to lecture …show more content…

His use of alliteration, “beside the brook”, emphasizes the relaxed and laid back tone established in the previous stanza. In the next line Emerson states “Each cloud that floated in the sky / Writes a letter in my book;” Emerson uses personification to give the affect that the clouds are living things that inspire his poetry. Emerson uses rhetorical devices such as personification and alliteration all throughout his …show more content…

He writes “There was never mystery, / But ‘tis figured in the flowers,” He is using alliteration to establish once again that there was never any mystery about what Emerson truly believed in throughout his life. He also once again brings up the image of flowers and them being a major part of his connection with nature. In the next line Emerson says “Was never secret history / But birds tell it in the bowers.” This line is to reinforce the fact that, this path is the one for Emerson, and that there is no secret about that. Waldo Emerson also once again uses images of nature. His use of alliteration in this particular stanza helps the overall natural flow of the

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