Henry David Thoreau also senses this loss of distinction. His book, Walden, published in 1854 at the height of American Romanticism, celebrates his return to Nature -- a sanctum of non-artificiality -- where Romantic writers sought knowledge and spiritual fulfillment. Walden is a key work of American Romanticism because of its embedded ideas of solitude, individualism, pantheism and intuition. Thematically rich, Walden tackles the importance of self-reliance, solitude, contemplation and closeness to nature -- all of which form the path towards a sort of enlightenment represented by transcendentalism -- the capacity to transcend the realm of mundane existence and society. Aside from providing precious autobiographical material, Walden offers social critique of contemporary Western culture, marked by a materialist perspective and the destruction of nature.
As mentioned before, American Romantics focus on self-reliant individualism. Perhaps the best example of the theme of self-reliance is to be found in Emerson's eponymous essay. Transcendentalism in America, of which Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading figure, argues that a fundamental continuity exists between man, nature, and God, or the divine. What is beyond nature is revealed through nature; nature is itself a symbol, or an indication of a deeper reality. Self-Reliance, first published in Essays (First Series)...
Individual conscience is the ultimate authority, and
originality is essential. We ought to find in ourselves the strength and inspiration to be our own person, to live our own lives and not be held to some standard by others. We should pave the way to our own lives, our own standards, and our own good. Emerson argues in favor of the development of the individual who is not afraid to live according to his own standards, and to think for himself. This level of individualism represents Emerson's ideal, in tune with nature, and at one with the world.
Whitman's
poetry also praises the individual. He also stresses the importance of individual voices by imagining a democratic nation as a unified whole composed of unique but equal individuals. The opening line of "Song of Myself," perhaps the most well-known poem from his volume, Leaves of Grass (published in 1855), is a triumphant ode to the individual: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself." Elsewhere the speaker identifies himself as Walt Whitman and
claims that, through him, the voices of many will speak. Every voice will carry the same weight within the single
democracy -- and thus every voice and every individual is equally beautiful.
Primary sources
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Self-reliance and Other Essays. Dover Publications, 1993.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Dover Publications, 1995.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Bantam Classics, 1983.
