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8 - Tears for Emerson

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2006

Joel Porte
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Saundra Morris
Affiliation:
Bucknell University, Pennsylvania
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Summary

I wonder if I am the only reader of Emerson who weeps over the death of his son in 1842. I have never heard anyone else confess to this reaction, although the story of how Emerson's “Experience” refers to Waldo Emerson's death is told briefly by Emerson himself, in the willfully perverse third paragraph of the essay. Then it is narrated repeatedly by twentieth-century scholars and critics, who treasure this moment as the most dramatic autobiographical reference in Emerson's published prose: 'In the death of my son, now more than two years ago, I seem to have lost a beautiful estate, - no more. I cannot get it nearer to me. If tomorrow I should be informed of the bankruptcy of my principal debtors, the loss of my property would be a great inconvenience to me, perhaps, for many years; but it would leave me as it found me, - neither better nor worse.'

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

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  • Tears for Emerson
  • Edited by Joel Porte, Cornell University, New York, Saundra Morris, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL052149611X.009
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  • Tears for Emerson
  • Edited by Joel Porte, Cornell University, New York, Saundra Morris, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL052149611X.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Tears for Emerson
  • Edited by Joel Porte, Cornell University, New York, Saundra Morris, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL052149611X.009
Available formats
×