Emerson & Thoreau

Thoreau Reader: Home - Three Thoreaus

Related page: May 25, 1853 - from Dirk H. Kelder

Emerson, who was fourteen years older than Thoreau, was Henry's mentor after he graduated from Harvard in the spring of 1837. Contemporaries of Thoreau claimed that he went through a phase when he walked, talked, and even combed his hair as Emerson did. Emerson quickly recognized Thoreau's genius and enjoyed Henry's blunt honesty and sense of humor. Emerson's early influence on Thoreau was clear in the younger man's view of and affinity for the natural world. In many ways, Thoreau surpassed his mentor in living the exemplary "natural" life. Emerson, despite his philosophy, was woefully inept when it came to manual labor and tending animals.

After five or six years Emerson, who was initially supportive of Thoreau's work, became increasingly critical of Henry's writing, and his poetry in particular. It is said that Henry burned much of his poetry as a result of Emerson's criticism. Somewhere around 1850 something happened that caused a deep rift between the two men. No one seems to know exactly what happened — there are many theories — but what is clear is that Henry was no longer "Emerson's man". Though the friendship continued, it was cooler than it had been in the past.

Thoreau's personality was bolder and more action-oriented than Emerson's. He was far more progressive and activist than Emerson on the anti-slavery issue. It's important to note that both Emerson and Thoreau changed over the years of their acquaintance. The Emerson who wrote "Nature" was not the same man who lectured in Europe in 1847 or traveled to California in 1871. The Thoreau who courted Ellen Sewall was not the Thoreau who gave the fiery speech at the Massachusetts Abolitionist Society picnic in Framingham in 1854 or who arranged the Concord memorial service for John Brown in 1859.

Thoreau Reader: Home - Three Thoreaus