Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American poet, philosopher and essayist. His is known to be the leader of the mid 19^th century Transcendentalist movement. Emerson made his entrance into this world on May 25, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts to a Unitarian minister, Rev. William Emerson and his wife Ruth Haskins. Early on, a young Emerson, witnessed his father death from cancer of the stomach. Emerson’s mother and other spiritual and intellectual female family members raised him. One lady that had a very notable impact on Emerson was his aunt Mary Moody Emerson. She lived in the Emerson household periodically and she and Emerson corresponded until she died in 1863. Emerson’s formal school years began when he was nine years old, and at age 14 he was accepted to Harvard University. During his years at Harvard, Emerson was appointed several special titles including Class Poet in his senior year.

Once Emerson’s time at Harvard was complete, he went on to be an assistant to William, his brother, who schooled young women in their Mother’s house. After, his brother left to study at Gottongen, Emerson founded his own school. Over several years, he would remain the schoolmaster until he attended Harvard Divinity School. Emerson was ordained a pastor in 1829. He then married his first wife Ellen, who at the age of 20 died. Emerson was overwhelmingly affected by her death and took it so much to heart that he started disagreeing with church doctrine and their methods. He later resigned as a minister in 1832. After his resignation, Emerson went on a European tour in which he later would recapitulate in English Traits. During this trip he met Thomas Carlyle, John Stuart Mill, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. Emerson was especially influenced by Carlyle; they maintained correspondence until Carlyle’s death.

Upon his return to America, he went to stay with his mother until 1834, he then moved in with his step-grandfather in Concord, Massachusetts, only to buy his own home there in 1835. He became one of the most influential citizens in town and remarried to Lydia Jackson in the fall of 1835. By September of 1836, Emerson cofounded the Transcendental Club with other like minded fellows; this would be the beginning of the Transcendentalist Movement.

Emerson published, Nature, which was his first essay, in the fall of 1936. A year later in 1837, Emerson gave his famous Cambridge Phi Beta Kappa address, The American Scholar. In 1840, the Transcendental group published a journal, The Dial. During the years following, Emerson would go on to publish many works: Threnody, a poem; Experience, an essay; Essays, a book; Self-Reliance, his famous essay.

Emerson became a popular lecturer, able to make most of his income from it. From 1847 to 1848, he visited Ireland, Scotland and England as well as Paris. Returning once again to America, he would continue to make his money lecturing. During this time, Emerson and two other editors edited the works and letters of Margaret Fuller. Emerson later went on to publish Fuller’s biography, The Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli.

He began to read Bhagavad Gita and Henry Thomas Colebrooke’s Essay on the Vedas. Emerson was influenced by the ideas presented in Vedas which included heavy leanings toward nondualism. Emerson’s essay The Over-soul was noted for its clear examples of this influence towards nondualism. After this, the civil war broke out and Emerson continued to give public lectures and even had a meeting with President Lincoln.

Emerson’s beliefs that God does not have to reveal truth, but that truth can be intuitively revealed through nature. These beliefs were the foundation of Transcendentalism which he spoke on whenever given the chance. He was called the Concord Sage due to his extensive talents as an orator and lecturer. Over time he became known as the voice of intelligent culture in the United States. Emerson was later noted by famous authors and philosophers before and after his death on April 27, 1882.

Alternative Emerson Resources on the Web:

• Ralph Waldo Emerson: A biography with of Emerson with references to his works and various links to sites about him.
• I Hear America Singing: A profile of Emerson as poet and writer accompanied by a video and pictures of his home and publications.
• The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: The centenary edition of all of Emerson ready for online reading.
• Emerson Society: Dedicated to the writings of and about Emerson. Membership is available.
• Philosophy: Covers the chronology of Emerson’s life, major themes in his philosophy, and questions about Emerson.
• Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson: Poems, translations and prose by Emerson.
• Nature: Emerson writing on nature, commodity, beauty and language.
• Thoreau – Part 1: Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Eulogy of Thoreau on May 9^th, 1862.
• Self-Reliance: Emerson’s paper on self-reliance, he purports the importance of non-conformity and independent beliefs.
• From Puritanism to Transcendentalism: A paper about Calvinism and Unitarianism as during Emerson’s lifetime.