Henry David Thoreau Summary

Biography EssayGenerally unrecognized in his own day or, worse, dismissed as a second-rate imitator of his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, in the twentieth century, has eme... Read more

American philosopher Henry David Thoreau "has for today a special appeal," noted Townsend Scudder in his foreword to the Modern Library edition to Walden and Other Writings of Henry David Thoreau. Scu... Read more

John Aldrich Christie best captures the paradoxes and contradictions in Henry David Thoreau's treatment of travel. He characterizes Thoreau as "a man who on the one hand reiterates his disdain for tra... Read more

Though not a professional philosopher, Henry David Thoreau is recognized as an important contributor to the American literary and philosophical movement known as New England Transcendentalism. His ess... Read more

In the following excerpt, Buell traces the course of A Week and explains how it displays, through “endless suggestiveness,” the Transcendentalist sensibility. Written largely during his ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Garber argues that Thoreau inserted the Saddleback Mountain climbing episode in order to show the insufficiency of textual and temporal closures. The logic of this study deri... Read more

In the following essay, Adams explains the teaching opportunities that arise from exploring the question of A Week's genre. The “drama” of Sunday in Thoreau's A Week on the... Read more

In the following essay, Johnson contends that the quest for self‐liberation is central to A Week, a quest advanced through the cyclical representation of time. We have forgotten that much of th... Read more

In the following essay, Hutchinson contends that A Week documents Thoreau's belief in historical progress and that he sought inspiration, not eternity, in his river voyage. A people without his... Read more

In the following essay, Burbick analyzes Thoreau's views concerning the treatment of history, including his disdain for historical approaches that rely on romantic and novelistic techniques. By... Read more

In the following essay, Murray offers a Freudian reading of the ascent of Mt. Greylock, claiming that Thoreau was motivated by Oedipal conflicts. We are closer than ever before to an understanding of ... Read more

In the following excerpt from his essay on the life of Thoreau, originally published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862, Emerson says his friend's verses were “often rude and defective.... Read more

In the following review of Carl Bode's enlarged 1964 edition of Thoreau's Collected Poems, Gozzi contends that Bode's first volume has done much to elevate the perception of Thore... Read more

In the following essay, Evans maintains that Thoreau's poetry and prose are linked, and so to consider the poems as individual entities diminishes Thoreau's stature as an artist. Despite... Read more

In the following essay, Glazier offers a close reading of the poem “Light-winged Smoke,” discussing elements of rebellion evident in its free form, imagery, and central figure of the def... Read more

In the following essay, Ford offers an analysis of the themes, imagery, and structure of the poems. I. Theme The ultimate experience for Thoreau was a complete destruction of the division between hims... Read more

In the following essay, Mattfield maintains Thoreau could not have intended many of the spellings that appear in his original “Poem #189,” and suggests a revised version of the poem. &#x... Read more

In the following essay, Colquitt suggests that Thoreau's judgments about the poet's experience hampered his success as a writer of verses. “Yes, I've seen her poetry Intere... Read more

In the following essay, Sampson argues that much of Thoreau's poetry has the structure reminiscent of the meditative tradition of seventeenth-century poetry. I Thoreau's reputation as a ... Read more

In the following essay, Srinath claims Thoreau's poetry reveals a “vehement originality” that ignores the existence of his predecessors and contemporaries and comes closer to the ... Read more

In the following essay, Kaiser surveys the celestial imagery of Thoreau's poetry and concludes the inconsistencies in his view stems from “unavoidable conflicts” in Thoreau'... Read more

In the following essay, Pitts argues that the “gentle boy” of the poem “Sympathy” is Thoreau himself. On June 24, 1839, when Henry David Thoreau was almost twenty-two years... Read more

In the following review of Carl Bode's 1943 edition of Thoreau's Collected Poems, Hellman says the volume does not establish Thoreau as a very important poet—despite the poems�... Read more

In the following essay, Wells contends that Thoreau's verse is that of an independent young man, but also notes his myriad influences and asserts that Thoreau's greatest poetic strength ... Read more

In the following response to Francis Allen's review of his 1943 edition of Thoreau's Collected Poems, Bode agrees that the poem “Carpe Diem” is not from Thoreau's ha... Read more

In the following essay, Cameron maintains that the verses written to Ralph Waldo Emerson's daughter, Edith, were actually written by Thoreau. When Edith Emerson was born on November 22, 1841, h... Read more

Throughout Henry David Thoreau's writings I have learned a couple things from him that are useful and true about today's society. Thoreau's view on society could impact the way we live and could also... Read more

The short story, "Young Goodman Brown," written by Hawthorne fits in with all the other stories we read so far in the Romanticism era. The Hawthorne's story ties in with the ideas of Irving, Thorpe, a... Read more

A significant philosopher of the Romantic Period, Henry David Thoreau unconventionally sets out to find true meaning in humanity by uncovering simplistic aspects of life that are often overlooked. A f... Read more

American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher, but he was best known for his autobiographical story of life in the woods, WALDEN (1854). Henry David Thoreau became one of the leading men in New E... Read more

Thoreau and Transcendentalism Living a life of solitude on the shores of Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau, author of the philosophical work Walden, illustrates his firm beliefs in transcen... Read more

Henry David Thoreau begins his novel of Walden with giving a brief summary on where he is, and the philosophy on why he is there. He also describes how he feels about the people in the society and how... Read more