Emerson, Thoreau, and Burroughs

By Linda Tucker

Ralph Waldo Emerson

1803 – 1882 Began career as a

minister Left the church and

became a lecturer Majority of his works

were first lectures and were later written down

Believed people were out of touch with nature

Suggested that humans and nature should have a reciprocal relationship

Viewed nature in a spiritual way

Believed that God flowed through all of nature

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

1817 – 1862 Worked as a teacher

and a land surveyor Eventually worked at

his family’s pencil factory

Observed and recorded nature constantly

Famous for his two years at Walden Pond

Like Emerson, believed people needed to get

closer to nature

Believed nature to have its own intrinsic value

Wrote about nature in an anthropomorphic way

Also sought God in nature, but did not write about it to the extent of Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

John Burroughs

1837 – 1921 Worked as a clerk

and a federal bank examiner

Wrote both about nature and about literature

Critical of “nature fakers”

Believed people needed to be closer to nature

Unlike Thoreau, tended to write only observations in his essays and saved philosophical discussion for separate works

Also unlike Emerson and Thoreau, did not believe God was in nature

Instead, wrote that God was within us and going into nature allows us to better communicate with God

John Burroughs

Questions?