Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 – 1882 Began career as a
minister Left the church and
became a lecturer Majority of his works
were first lectures and were later written down
Believed people were out of touch with nature
Suggested that humans and nature should have a reciprocal relationship
Viewed nature in a spiritual way
Believed that God flowed through all of nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
1817 – 1862 Worked as a teacher
and a land surveyor Eventually worked at
his family’s pencil factory
Observed and recorded nature constantly
Famous for his two years at Walden Pond
Like Emerson, believed people needed to get
closer to nature
Believed nature to have its own intrinsic value
Wrote about nature in an anthropomorphic way
Also sought God in nature, but did not write about it to the extent of Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
John Burroughs
1837 – 1921 Worked as a clerk
and a federal bank examiner
Wrote both about nature and about literature
Critical of “nature fakers”
Believed people needed to be closer to nature
Unlike Thoreau, tended to write only observations in his essays and saved philosophical discussion for separate works
Also unlike Emerson and Thoreau, did not believe God was in nature
Instead, wrote that God was within us and going into nature allows us to better communicate with God
John Burroughs