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 32
Page 10
This universal soul he calls Reason : it is not mine , or thine , or his , but we are its
; we are its property and men . And the blue sky in which the private earth is
buried , the sky with its eternal calm , and full of everlasting orbs , is the type of ...
This universal soul he calls Reason : it is not mine , or thine , or his , but we are its
; we are its property and men . And the blue sky in which the private earth is
buried , the sky with its eternal calm , and full of everlasting orbs , is the type of ...
Page 49
There is a compelling reason in the uses of the plant for every novelty of color or
form ; and our art saves material by more skilful arrangement , and reaches
beauty by taking every superfluous ounce that can be spared from a wall , and ...
There is a compelling reason in the uses of the plant for every novelty of color or
form ; and our art saves material by more skilful arrangement , and reaches
beauty by taking every superfluous ounce that can be spared from a wall , and ...
Page 208
He has enriched the English language and the English mind with an explanation
of the object of Philosophy ; of the all - important distinction between Reason and
Understanding ; the distinction of an Idea and a Conception ; between Genius ...
He has enriched the English language and the English mind with an explanation
of the object of Philosophy ; of the all - important distinction between Reason and
Understanding ; the distinction of an Idea and a Conception ; between Genius ...
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