The American transcendentalist
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Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Mass. on May 25, 1803. His childhood was full of struggle from the death of his father to the sudden low economic status of his family, yet he was able to overcome the obstacles and attend Harvard College in 1817 at 14 years old. After graduating, he pursued a career in ministry then slowly flourished into an author, lecturer, philosopher, and became known as the "Father of Transcendentalism" (Encyclopedia of World Biography, Ralph Waldo Emerson).
The Transcendentalist movement began in 1836 in the United States upon the publication of Emerson's essay titled Nature. This period articulated the depth and principles that merged the significance of searching for knowledge through means of intuition and spiritual guidance rather than by observation. His impact in American literature was strongly felt; it reflected the ideas of individualism, resistance to government, religion, and social norms as well as making a connection to nature (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Transcendentalism). The The Humble Bee was published three years after the death of Emerson's brother who lived in Puerto Rico. During the composition of his poem, Emerson was experiencing depression and was grief stricken by the news of his brothers passing. He expressed his feelings about the loss of his brother through the poem. Emerson compared the innocent nature and celestial life that bees live in to the struggles, and woeful experiences that humanity has to endure (Blake). |