Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo

Emerson's

Life

Self-Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson's Life

"Self-Reliance" is about trusting ourselves and giving ourselves the best life that we can. Emerson says, "... envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide, that he must take himself for better, for worse..." and by this, Emerson is saying that as humans, we must be content with ourselves because we are who we are with all of the flaws and complications; therefore, being fake and envying will never get us far in life.

In the 1840s, Emerson found and co-edited the literary magazine "The Dial". He posted two volumes of essays in 1841 and 1844. A few essays that came from these volumes include, "Self-Reliance", "Friendship", and "Experience". These essays are a few of his best known works. In the 1840s, Emerson's two sons and two daughters were born. Emerson advocated for the abolition of slavery in the 1860s and continued to lecture across the country. He published "Society and Solitude" and a poetry collection titled "Parnassus" in the 1870s. Emerson passed away on April 27, 1882 of failing health.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Boston Latin School, Harvard University, and Harvard Divinity School where he graduated from in 1821. After graduating, he took over as director of his brothers school for girls. Emerson became a licensed minister in 1826 and was then ordained to the Unitarian church in 1829. Also in 1829, he married Ellen Tucker. Ellen passed away in 1831 from tuberculosis. Her passing left Emerson devastated and it caused him to leave the clergy.

In 1832, Emerson wrote the poem "Good-bye" and he became a transcendentalist, which led to his later essays titled "Self-Reliance" and "The American Scholar". He moved to Concord, Massachusetts in 1824 and got remarried in 1835 to Lydia Jackson. During the 1830s Emerson began to do lectures that he later published in essay form.

I chose this essay because it was one of Emerson's more popular pieces and it was easy to relate to as a teenager in a world that belittles you for the way that you dress, act, and feel.

Side Note

Emerson was a part of a group that called themselves Transcendentalists. As a Transcendentalists, you believed that you could transcend beyond the physical world into deeper, physical experiences through free will.

Good-Bye

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Good-Bye" is about Emerson passing away. He is saying that he is content with leaving a world full of such pride. Emerson begins saying goodbye to the complimenting faces, the wise, the wealthy, the crowded streets, the inconsiderate, and those who come and go. He then describes how beautiful his grave will be and how his 'home' is a calm, pleasant place away from this world full of pride.

I chose this poem because he published it a year after his first wife passed away and I knew that it was going to have deep meaning