3 Review(s)

An ode to Nature and the human spirit, Selected Essays, Lectures, and Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson is a collection of some of the most inspirational and thought provoking work from the Transcendentalist writer. Emerson speaks freely, courageously, and brilliantly on society and its conformist ways, on Nature and the love for a higher God vs religious control, on women and their rights, and on freedom for slaves in America. His ideas still have resonance in today’s world, and his forceful voice echoes with a resounding sensitivity and a deep understanding of human nature. Original and engaging, Emerson’s writings have formed the cornerstone of the Transcendentalist movement in America and even today, continue to be an ideological source for many. An ordained minister from Harvard Divinity School, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was a philosopher, thinker, and writer. He is considered the leader of the Transcendentalist Movement in America, which arose as a protest against the doctrines of the Unitarian Church at Harvard Divinity School. In his writings, Emerson has countered the prevailing intellectual norms at Harvard, and spoken out against society and culture and its ills. Individualism and self-reliance were two of the tenets he espoused. His most famous works include the essay Nature, and The American Scholar, which has been dubbed the ‘Intellectual Declaration of American Independence’. Later day poets and thinkers like Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman counted him among their mentors.