My Life with Thoreau Essay - 518 Words

It was my high school teacher, Anna Shaughnessy, who introduced me to Henry David Thoreau. His Walden was not part of the course of study. She asked whether I knew of this Massachusetts writer. I didnt. Without scaring me off by proclaiming how great he was, she said he had lived and died in obscurity. But not like some romantic poet in a dusty garret. He had done all kinds of work for a living-been a schoolteacher, surveyor, pencil-maker, gardener, carpenter, mason, lecturer, naturalist, as well as keeper of a personal journal into which he wrote two million words. Thoreau was born in 1817, about a hundred years before you, Miss Shaughnessey said. But I think, when you read him, youll find his ideas, his way of looking at†¦show more content†¦But soon her drew me deep into his story of his adventure living in his cabin at Walden Pond. His book has the rhythm and flow of the changing seasons. And out of that pattern came his central symbol-rebirth and renewal, not only of the world around us, but of our own inner development. Years after my first encounter with Thoreau, when I was deeply troubled by the course my life was taking, I went back to Walden once more. On the last page I read this passage: Every one has heard the story which has gone the rounds of New England, of a strong and beautiful bug which came out of the dry leaf of an old table of apple-tree wood, which had stood in a farmers kitchen for sixty years, first in Connecticut, and afterward in Massachusetts-from an egg deposited in the living tree many years earlier still, as appeared by counting the annual layers beyond it; which was heard gnawing out for several weeks, hatched perchance by the heat of an urn. Who does not feel his faith in a resurrection and immortality strengthened by hearing of this? Who knows what beautiful and winged life, whose egg has been buried for ages under many concentric layers of woodenness in the dead dry life of society, deposited at first in the alburnum of the green and living tree, which has gradually been converted into the semblance of its well-seasoned tomb-heard perchance gnawing out now for years by the astonished family of man, as they sat around the festive board-may unexp ectedly come forthShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Henry David Thoreau s Walden 1183 Words   |  5 PagesHenry David Thoreau will go down in history as one of the greatest influential writer’s and philosophers in American history. Not only was he a smart and intelligent man, but he had such wisdom and determination when he looked at every aspect of life. Thoreau was just an ordinary individual from Concord, which helped the readers relate to him on a more personal level when they read his work. In Thoreau’s Walden, he wanted the reader to understand that you should live life more simple, connect withRead More A Comparison Of Henry David Thoreau And Ralph Waldo Emerson?s Beliefs751 Words   |  4 Pages A Comparison of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Beliefs concerning Simplicity, the Value and Potential of Our Soul, and Our Imagination.Henry David Thoreau tests Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ideas about nature by living at Walden Pond, where he disco vers that simplicity in physical aspects brings deepness to our mind, our soul to its fullest potential, and our imagination to be uplifted to change our lives. 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Transforming a movement known as Transcendentalism, both Emerson and Thoreau used this simple idea of nature, society and individualism to their advantage. Both used this simple idea to not only understand themselves, but also the world around them. Emerson and Thoreau held many of the same valuesRead MoreTranscendentalism Depicted in Henry David Thoreaus The Warmth of Other Suns741 Words   |  3 Pagesoneself brings out the best in a person. Being a fairly independent person myself, I can identify with some of their opinions about life and nature. The idea of nature being a spiritual experience is a rebellious idea compared to the rationalism of many others during the same time period. The transcendentalist writer of the late 1700’s, author Henry David Thoreau, shares the same thoughts about nature, independence, and recreation as I do. 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Henry Thoreau was a transcendentalist that practiced the form of solitude throughout his life. He left society and moved into the woods to be removed from the confines of society. Along with Thoreau, a more modern-day transcendentalist was known as Chris McCandless. McCandless