Literature Link April 24, 2022 — The Transcendentalists
• “The Rhodora” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. [poem] “In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, / I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods, / Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook . . .
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being”
https://www.poeticous.com/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-rhodora
• “Transcendentalism”. This brief article is a nice primer of the literary and social movement of transcendentalism and the roots of “American in dividualism. At Harvard Divinity School’s 1836 Commencement, Emerson delivered an oration that would become the foundational document of New England Transcendentalism. In “The American Scholar,” Emerson beckoned for a new kind of spirit to take root in humanity, a spirit fueled by individualism, creativity, and a tireless work ethic. That Emerson’s idealized scholar was “American” is not by accident. The belief that the young nation was fertile ground for a new and more enlightened kind of citizen.”
http://www.online-literature.com/periods/transcendentalism.php
• “A Hole in the Wall” by Louisa May Alcott. This short story is very typical of Alcott’s writing and somewhat similar to Little Women. A handicapped boy in a poor family makes the best of sad circumstances. A bit like Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In good weather, he is confined to a small courtyard with a wall that blocks out the neighbor’s gardens. Hearing a princess’s song, his imagination populates the mysterious garden he can’t see, until . . . He decides to make a hole in the wall https://americanliterature.com/author/louisa-may-alcott/short-story/a-hole-in-the-wall
For a short, interesting bio. of Alcott, go here and find that the family harbored a fugitive slave as part of the underground railroad for a week during 1847. That same year, Louisa read and admired the Declaration of Sentiments published at the Seneca Falls Convention on Women’s Rights, and she was the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts.
https://americanliterature.com/author/louisa-may-alcott
• “Rebirth” by Alex Elle. [very short poem] Committed to helping others find their voices, Elle’s writing falls in step with the transcendentalists’ emphasis of individuality. In this poem from Neon Soul, Elle likens human resilience to that of a flower — wilting and blooming again and again. https://www.readpoetry.com/rebirth-by-alex-elle/
In faith,
Dale Dunnigan