Emerson Group at eNotes

I'm not sure what you mean when you say Emerson's style and philosophy...

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 13:35:41 PST

I'm not sure what you mean when you say Emerson's style and philosophy was so clearly different from others. Emerson seems to be the quintessential transcendentalist. He embraced all of the romantic ideals of his time. He believed in non-conformity, self-reliance, valued intuition over reason and loved the beauty of nature. He did not write poems, novels and short stories as some of his contemporaries did, but his essays promote the same ideas...

Why is Emerson lumped together with the rest of the Transcendentalists,...

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 11:16:56 PST

Why is Emerson lumped together with the rest of the Transcendentalists, when his philosophy/style is so clearly different from the others'?

Emerson's Poetic Style

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 11:13:22 PST

Is it just me, or does Emerson's style seem to contradict everything he stands for? His philosophy teaches "Self-Reliance" and nonconformity, and yet his poems are so strictly bound (e.g. rhyme scheme). He teaches Transcendentalism, and yet his poetry is stark and straightforward. Why?