Well...after reading all three transcendentalists, I have to say that the most influential and famous of the three, Thoreau, is my LEAST favorite. While his ideas are very practical, I found his passage from Walden disappointing in that it had very few quotes that made me sit there and consider the depths which he was probing. As opposed to Emerson and Whitman who both had many, many quotes that made me think.
Whitman, while basically just reiterating Emerson's ideas, he did so in a very poetic and less religious way. He was very exuberant and descriptive.
However, even though I thoroughly enjoyed "Song of Myself" I have to say that Emerson's readings were the most compelling. He was arguably the first (Wordsworth, it could be argued presented these ideas before Emerson) to create these transcendentalist ideas, and because of that I feel that Whitman and Thoreau, while they attempted to go their own way (particularly Whitman in my opinion) they were just imitations of the original writer, Emerson.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A.J.,
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving such a clear ranking of these authors (though, I found it odd that you describe Thoreau as "practical"). But while I understand that Emerson--in part because he struck you as the most "original"--is your favorite, I'm not sure you make it clear just why. What are the specific ideas he promulgates that you find resonant? I'm hoping that you somehow make him central to your upcoming essay (in part so that I might better understand your preference for him).
Regardless, thank for getting this posted!