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TRANSCENDENTALISM IN LITERATURE

A philosophical and social movement that developed in New England around 1836 as a reaction to rationalism.

Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures.

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AUTHORS IN TRANSCENDENTALISM

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson 

  • Henry David Thoreau â€‹

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HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Henry David Thoreau was an American poet author and transcendentalist. The writings of Thoreau reflect his natural views of the surrounding world which make him an extraordinary transcendentalist leader.

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RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Ralph Waldo Emerson was also an American poet and philosopher in the transcendentalism culture. What madeEmerson's style unique compared to other authors was his tendencies to have harsh and didactic. Even with these off-setting themes, Ralph's works express God with nature and man.

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A VIDEO TOUCHING ON TRANSCENDENTALISM

Watch the Video Version

  • This is an enlightening video that includes additional information on the time period and the characteristics that inspired Transcendentalism Authors.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

Poems From Transcendentalism Authors

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BY: RALPH WALDO EMERSON

The Bell

Love thy music, mellow bell,
I love thine iron chime,
To life or death, to heaven or hell,
Which calls the sons of Time.

Thy voice upon the deep
The home-bound sea-boy hails,
It charms his cares to sleep,
It cheers him as he sails.

To house of God and heavenly joys
Thy summons called our sires,
And good men thought thy sacred voice
Disarmed the thunder's fires.

And soon thy music, sad death-bell,
Shall lift its notes once more,
And mix my requiem with the wind
That sweeps my native shore. 

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BY: HENRY DAVID THOREAU 

Indeed Indeed I Cannot Tell  

Indeed indeed, I cannot tell, 
Though I ponder on it well, 
Which were easier to state, 
All my love or all my hate. 
Surely, surely, thou wilt trust me 
When I say thou dost disgust me. 
O, I hate thee with a hate 
That would fain annihilate; 
Yet sometimes against my will, 
My dear friend, I love thee still. 
It were treason to our love, 
And a sin to God above, 
One iota to abate 
Of a pure impartial hate.

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THE BELL

By: Ralph Waldo Emerson 

The poem The Bell, is the perfect example of Ralph Waldo Emerson's transcendentalism ideals. This poem is about early childhood and young boys running through the forest, one with nature and their imagination. 

INDEED INDEED I CANNOT TELL

By: Henry Thoreau

Somehow, Henry Thoreau relates to the entire population by speaking about the feelings after a break up in a relationship. The feelings of hate and love mixed togehter to create an overbearing sadness. Reaching into the inner soul, Thoreau expresses transcendentalist views of understanding the deepest truths of humanity.

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BY: RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Teach Me I Am Forgotten By The Dead

Teach me I am forgotten by the dead
And that the dead is by herself forgot
And I no longer would keep terms with me.
I would not murder, steal, or fornicate,
Nor with ambition break the peace of towns
But I would bury my ambition
The hope & action of my sovereign soul
In miserable ruin. Nor a hope
Should ever make a holiday for me
I would not be the fool of accident
I would not have a project seek an end
That needed aught
Beyond the handful of my present means
The sun of Duty drop from his firmament
To be a rushlight for each petty end
I would not harm my fellow men
On this low argument, 'twould harm myself. 

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BY: HENRY THOREAU

The Poet's Delay Poem

In vain I see the morning rise,
In vain observe the western blaze,
Who idly look to other skies,
Expecting life by other ways.

Amidst such boundless wealth without,
I only still am poor within,
The birds have sung their summer out,
But still my spring does not begin.

Shall I then wait the autumn wind,
Compelled to seek a milder day,
And leave no curious nest behind,
No woods still echoing to my lay? 

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THE POET'S DELAY POEM

By: Henry Throeau  

Henry Thoreau had one true love: nature. In The Poet's Delay Poem, Thoreau suggests that no artist could surpass God's creation of the world and the nature within the world. Allowing the reader to make the connection to the transcendentalism movement. 

TEACH ME I AM FORGOTTEN BY THE DEAD

By: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every transcendentalist author believes that everything goes beyond what can be seen, touched or felt. This is what Emerson was expressing in this poem. There is confusion in life and death, not everything has an explanation but it is inevitable and the spirit of the person will live on.

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CONTACT ME

Isabella Morrow

906-396-8660

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