Emerson's Literary CriticismRalph Waldo Emerson has always fascinated students of criticism and of American literature and thought. Emerson& ’ s Literary Criticism supplies the continuing need for an anthology. This collection brings together Emerson& ’ s literary criticism from a wide variety of sources. Eric W. Carlson has culled both the major statements of Emerson's critical principles and many secondary observations that illuminate them. Here are more than sixty selections on thirty-five critical topics. Headnotes provide valuable background. Carlson relates Emerson& ’ s critical principles to his philosophy, social thought, and literary milieu, and also to biographical details. Intended for the student as well as the researcher, this book amply illustrates Alfred Kazin's contention that Ralph Waldo Emerson was "one of the shrewdest critics who ever lived." |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 38
Page xxvii
In his poetics , Emerson was less an analyst of technique than a theorist of poetic
principle and function . Among his writings there is nothing comparable to Poe ' s
“ The Philosophy of Composition ” or “ The Rationale of Verse . ” The functional ...
In his poetics , Emerson was less an analyst of technique than a theorist of poetic
principle and function . Among his writings there is nothing comparable to Poe ' s
“ The Philosophy of Composition ” or “ The Rationale of Verse . ” The functional ...
Page xxxi
... s Notes on Virginia and his First Inaugural Address , Emerson ' s “ The
American Scholar , ” Whitman ' s Preface to the 1855 Leaves of Grass , and more
or less prominently in the works of Poe , Cooper , Thoreau , Hawthorne , and
Melville .
... s Notes on Virginia and his First Inaugural Address , Emerson ' s “ The
American Scholar , ” Whitman ' s Preface to the 1855 Leaves of Grass , and more
or less prominently in the works of Poe , Cooper , Thoreau , Hawthorne , and
Melville .
Page 4
Not less excellent , except for our less susceptibility in the afternoon , was the
charm , last evening , of a January sunset . The western clouds divided and
subdivided themselves into pink flakes modulated with tints of unspeakable
softness ...
Not less excellent , except for our less susceptibility in the afternoon , was the
charm , last evening , of a January sunset . The western clouds divided and
subdivided themselves into pink flakes modulated with tints of unspeakable
softness ...
What people are saying - Write a review
Emerson's literary criticism
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictEditor Carlson gathered this selection of Emerson's literary criticism in 1979. The great poet here ruminates on "Art as Experience," "The Creative Process," "Writers and Books," and more. Read full review
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
American appear beauty become better called character Chaucer Coleridge common criticism culture delight draw Edited effect Emerson England English essay experience expression fact feeling flow genius give Goethe hand heart human ideal ideas imagination influence insight inspiration intellect interest journal language learned leaves lecture less light lines literary literature living look manners material meaning Milton mind moral nature never novel object organic original painting pass passage perception person philosopher picture poems poet poetic poetry praise present published reader reason relation represents rhetoric seems sense Shakspeare soul speak speech spirit stand style symbol theory things thought tion translation true truth universal verse whole wonderful Wordsworth write written