Emerson Ralph Waldo: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

New England preacher, poet, teacher, one of the most famous writers and philosophers of the 19th century - Ralph Waldo Emerson. He introduced a huge number of readers to a new and interesting philosophy, completely turning their usual judgments.

Created followers and talented authors, giving them food for thought, formed the philosophy of transcendentalism - all of the above could be done by one person - Ralph Emerson.

Biography

The author was born in the USA in a large family. Among 8 children, Ralph Emerson was born 4. His father was a pastor of a church in the city of Boston. This profession was chosen by many men on the father's side. Therefore, I would like to note that he inherited his future activities and love for literature from his father, who was also always interested in self-development and learning.

At the age of 14, Ralph becomes a student at Harvard College. And already at 18 he will graduate from it and begin teaching at a school for girls, the founder of which was his uncle.

In 1826, Emerson becomes a pastor, but soon he will be disappointed in the position. And the impetus will be the moment when his wife Ellen Tucker in 1831 will carry away tuberculosis. It was this event that made Emersonto refuse the priesthood, he is heartbroken, and his faith, which he had previously doubted, was completely destroyed, he saw his philosophy in everything that happened.

Travel

So from 1833 he began to earn a living, traveling around the country and continents and giving lectures, and by 1850 he became famous all over the world, managed to visit France, Canada, England, California. There he meets many prominent personalities such as Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.

Ralph himself decides to settle in Concord (Massachusetts) in 1834, and the following year he marries a second time to Lydia Jackson. Later, in the 40s, she will give him four children: two boys and two girls. A year later, Emerson Ralph released his debut book, Nature, in which he expressed the philosophy of transcendentalism, becoming the founder of the idea in his country. The book was published in a circulation of only five thousand copies, but they were sold for more than five years. Although this first work, perhaps, can be considered the most beautiful. The author talks about many things that a person does not notice, saying that even dew drops are a microcosm of the universe. You need to believe in yourself and listen to the inner world. Thomas Carlyle became his mentor in the philosophy of transcendentalism. And the writing of the book was inspired by Eastern and German philosophy.

In Concord he meets many writers who support his ideas, such asMargaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau and Amos Bronson Alcott.

American Transcendentalism

His lectures, which Emerson Ralph led in the 30s, he will publish in the form of an essay. All these essays will demonstrate his philosophy, the experience that he adopted and compiled himself, and all this was embodied in a whole philosophy and many ideas. And later, in lectures, he pushed the authors to find their own style, and not imitate someone, and in particular foreign masters.

The philosopher became the most important, central figure, he was at the origins of American transcendentalism, Emerson Ralph taught that you need to trust only yourself and your nature. And God and nature should be perceived through inspiration. His writings say that God is not something distant and unknown, but he is near, in each of us. You can understand God by looking into your own soul and feeling a connection with nature. His philosophy at that time contradicted all generally accepted views.

Creativity

Basically, Emerson Ralph described social equality in his books, that before God all people are equal, everyone can and should improve, there should be closeness and unity of the individual with nature, a person should be cleansed of base interests and strive for the best.

Although his general idea was somewhat utopian, ideally the author spoke about life in harmony alone with himself and nature. Intuition is the only way to understand yourself. That's what Ralph Emerson claimed.

He never stopped publishing books. One of them is "Essays" (1844). Orsuch successful collections published in the 50s: Representatives of Mankind (1850), Features of English Life (1856). "Moral Philosophy" (1860) - a collection of two parts.

Poems and quotes

In the period from 1846 to 1867, several editions of poems of poetry were published. The poems "Barma", "Days", "Snowstorm" and "Concord Hymn" have become real classics of American literature. In his works, the author touched upon the themes and images familiar to him, however, many consider Ralph Emerson's poems to be too harsh and rude.

"If a person seeks beauty, not because faith and love require it, but for the sake of pleasure, he degrades as a person."

The author of the saying is Ralph Emerson. Quotes that have reached the modern reader are still interesting and relevant. In them, he touches on many topics of interest to the philosopher, so it is difficult to overestimate his contribution.

Later works and life

In his later works, Emerson stopped being so categorical. In the 60s, he began to pay attention to problems in society, for example, he advocated the abolition of slavery in the United States and still continued to travel throughout the country with lectures. He voted for Abraham Lincoln, but after that he was dissatisfied with his actions, as he was too slow to fulfill his promises and abolish slavery.

In the 70s, his he alth deteriorated significantly, but despite this he continued to write works, trying to change the world. Although he no longer had the strength to give lectures.

Ralph Waldo Emerson died 27April 1887 and remained true to his ideas and ideals until the end of his life. His work has a significant weight in the fund of American literature, religion and philosophy of the 19th century.

Followers

His ideas had a strong influence on the work of many literary figures. Especially on his protégé Henry David Thoreau, as well as on his contemporary W alt Whitman.

The philosophical current of pragmatism is very close to his views, and it is based on similar ideas. And authors such as Emily Dickinson, Robinson and Frost were inspired by the works of the philosopher, which clearly influenced their work in a significant way.

He had a lot of fans in Europe, especially in Germany. The notorious F. Nietzsche was inspired by his ideas, which later manifested itself in his works. But in France, he could not win similar success, however, it is known that some significant personalities in history were interested in his work and work.

In Russia, translations of his works were published before the revolution and also had many admirers. In particular, his influence can be traced in the work of Leo Tolstoy.

Although there were both supporters and those who left negative reviews - such persons as Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Gorton. But I would like to note that the latter said that Emerson's views were unacceptable to him, but he himself sympathizes with him as a person.