Ralph Waldo Emerson

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the meeting to ensure that they would be present for the evening get-together. Fuller would prove to be an important figure in transcendentalism. Emerson anonymously published his first essay, "Nature", on September 9, 1836. In "Nature", Emerson attempts to solve an abstract problem: that humans do not fully accept nature’s beauty. He writes that people are distracted by the demands of the world, whereas nature gives but humans fail to reciprocate. The essay consists of eight sections: Nature, Commodity, Beauty, Language, Discipline, Idealism, Spirit and Prospects. Each section takes a different view on the relationship between humans and nature. In the essay, Emerson explains that to experience the “wholeness” with nature with which we are naturally suited, we must be separate from the flaws and distractions brought to us by society. Emerson believed that solitude is the single mechanism through which we can be fully engaged in the world of nature. The transcendental group began to publish its newspaper, The Dial, in July 1840.George Ripley was the managing editor. Margaret Fuller was the first editor, having been hand-picked by Emerson after several others had declined the role. Fuller stayed on for about two years, when Emerson took over, utilizing the journal to promote talented young writers including Ellery Channing and Thoreau. The Dial ceased publication in 1844. In January 1842, Emersons first son, Waldo, died of scarlet fever. He wrote a few poems expressing his grief. Margaret Fuller died in 1850. Starting in 1867, Emerson’s health began declining; he wrote much less in his journals. Beginning as early as the summer of 1871 or in the spring of 1872, he started experiencing memory problems and suffered from aphasia. By the end of the decade, he forgot his own name at times and, when anyone asked how he felt, he responded, "Quite well; I have lost my mental faculties, but am perfectly well". His mental health became worse after his precious house, Bush, burned down in 1872. The problems with his memory had become embarrassing to Emerson and he ceased his public appearances by 1879. On April 21, 1882, Emerson was diagnosed with pneumonia. He died six days later. Emerson is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts. He was placed in his coffin wearing a white robe given by the American sculptor Daniel Chester French.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a man who started with nothing, and ended up with much more than he could ever dream of. Emerson was a beloved and hated man, who had many friends, and many enemies. Sometimes, it even seemed that he was plagued by death, but he still prevailed and made the world change its views, even by a fraction. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Transcendentalist who wrote many essays and poems, such as “Memory”, “Nature”, “Self-Reliance”, and “The Poet”.“ We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered, that much was accomplished and much was begun in us.” -”Experience”