Ralph Waldo Emerson

Early Emerson Poems

Ralph Waldo EmersonDuring his life, Emerson wrote a dozen essays and delivered 1500+ public lectures spanning the United States. Emerson's writings focused mainly on subjects such as" individuality, freedom, the ability of mankind to realize almost anything, and the relationship between one's soul and the surrounding world.

His best-known addresses are The American Scholar (1837) and The Divinity School Address , which he delivered before the graduates of the Harvard Divinity School, shocking Boston's conservative clergymen with his descriptions of the divinity of man and the humanity of Jesus.

Emerson met William Wordsworth , Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Thomas Carlyle.

Picking just one poem as "the best" from the astute Ralph Waldo Emerson is not possible. Rather, here are three poems from Emerson which stand apart from the rest.
  1. The Rhodora - This is my favorite poem of Emerson and is also one of his most beloved poems, according to experts. However, while weaving imagery of the connection between man and nature in the poem, there is an underlying message about his relationship with his wife. See if you can spot it.
  2. The Bell - The poem highlights the recurring patterns of human life, using the bell as a symbol to denote the various pivotal moments we experience, ranging from joyous to sorrowful occasions.
  3. The Snow Storm - is a celebration of nature's transformative power, particularly the beauty and artistry of a snowstorm. The poem portrays the storm as an artist that, in its fierce creativity, transforms the landscape into a winter wonderland. Emerson delves into the theme of nature's majesty, depicting how it crafts intricate, transient masterpieces, contrasting the environment's stillness with nature's active hand.
The beauty is its own excuse for Being