Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Properly Acknowledged by

Ralph Waldo Emerson certainly took his place in the history of American

Literature . He lived in a time when romanticism was becoming a way of thinking and beginning to bloom in America, the time period known as The Romantic Age.

Romantic thinking stressed on human imagination and emotion rather than on basic facts and reason. Ralph Waldo Emerson not only provided plenty of that, but he also nourished it and inspired many other writers of that time. "His influence can be found in the works of Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman,

Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and Robert Frost.". No doubt, Ralph Waldo Emerson was an astute and intellectual man who influenced American Literature and has rightly received the credit that he deserves from historians. He has been depicted as a leading figure in American thought and literature, or at least ranks up there with the very best. But there is so much more to Ralph Waldo

Emerson when we consider the personal hardships that he had to endure during the course of his life and when we see the type of man that he becomes. He certainly was a man of inspiration who knew how to express himself by writing the best of poems and philosophical ideas with inspiration.

To get an idea of how Ralph Waldo Emerson might have become such an inspiration to the people, some background on his life is essential. Can you imagine living a life with all your loved ones passing away one by one? A persons life could collapse into severe depression, lose hope, and lose meaning.

He can build a morbid outlook on life. Ralph Waldo Emerson suffered these things. He was born on May 25, 1803 and entered into a new world, a new nation just beginning. Just about eight years later, his father would no longer be with him, as William Emerson died in 1811. The Emerson family was left to a life marked by poverty. Ralph's mother, Ruth, was left as a widow having to take care of five sons. However, Ralph's life seemed to carry on smoothly. He would end up attending Harvard College and persue a job of teaching full time.

While teaching as a junior pastor of Boston's Second Church, his life gained more meaning when he married Ellen Louisa Tucker. Journal entries and love letters he wrote at that time expressed lots of feelings and emo...

... middle of paper ...

...l ideas ever created. His famous essays are "History," "Art," "The Poet," and the famous "Self-Reliance."

He gathered his essays into two volumes. The first was released in 1841, and the second was released in 1844. Poems however, also made Emerson's reputation as a erudite man. His poems were enjoyable as well as thought provoking to many.

"Each and All," was a poem that supported his beliefs. "The Rhodora," as well as "The Humble Bee," and "The Snow Storm," touched on the greatness of nature.

Emerson also expressed himself through poems such as "Uriel," "The Problem,"

"The Sphinx," and the well-known "Days." Many of these works of Emerson have taken there place in the history of American literature.

Thus, we now see what truly a great man Emerson was. We gain a deep respect for him when we consider the hardships that he had to face, how he endured those problems, and the minds that he opened and touched by his wonderful works. In conclusion, we can truly say that Emerson is well deserving of the credit he received from historians.