{"id":124,"date":"2016-12-07T17:22:51","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T22:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/litandthecity\/?p=124"},"modified":"2016-12-14T16:04:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T21:04:55","slug":"henry-david-thoreau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/litandthecity\/2016\/12\/07\/henry-david-thoreau\/","title":{"rendered":"Henry David Thoreau"},"content":{"rendered":"

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July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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About the author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817 and lived there for the majority of his life. After attending Harvard University, he was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. A two week teaching stint and the quick and opening and closing of a school in Concord led Thoreau to the befriending of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson, who immersed Thoreau in the idea of transcendentalism. Due to his great exposure of the healing power of nature from Emerson, Thoreau began his writing of nature poetry in the 1840s. His major beliefs were transcendentalism and civil disobedience, and he was an avid abolitionist especially later in his life. Thoreau\u2019s most recognized accomplishment was his two year stay at Emerson\u2019s Walden Pond where Thoreau built a small home and lived alone with nature. During this widely known time, Thoreau adapted to working one day a week and relaxing and studying nature six days a week, which he deemed the opposite of traditional American life. Achieving modest success during his life, Thoreau was always more concerned with his works and their meaning than having a financial cushion. The great transcendentalist died in 1862 after an almost lifelong battle with tuberculosis. At his funeral, Emerson spoke that \u201cthe country knows not yet, or in the least part, how great a son it has lost. His soul was made for the noblest society; he had in a short life exhausted the capabilities of this world; wherever there is knowledge, wherever there is virtue, wherever there is beauty, he will find a home.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Thoreau was only a guest of New York for a few months during his stay in Staten Island. Looking to experience city life and broaden his literary horizons, Thoreau accepted the job of tutor for Ralph Waldo Emerson\u2019s nephews, which paid well and also allowed him a stay at their family home in Staten Island. During his time here, Thoreau tutored every weekday from 9AM-2PM. Once the tutoring commenced, he would go on daily walks around the property where he enjoyed the flora and fauna that was unknown to the Concord native. Thoreau also especially enjoyed the time he spent by the sea, which revealed the water\u2019s healing nature. When he was not walking through Staten Island, he frequented the city and seemed to hate it more and more with each new visit. Thoreau despised the city to its very core, found no beauty in it \u2013 except for that of the crowds of Chatham Street – and wondered why people enjoyed being surrounded by so many other people. After failed attempts at finding both a publisher for his work and enough material to write about, Thoreau moved back to Concord and never returned to New York.<\/p>\n

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DID YOU KNOW?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A well-known abolitionist, Henry David Thoreau not only wrote on the terrors of slavery but also opened his home in Concord as a safe haven spot on the Underground Railroad for escaped slaves making their way to Canada.<\/p>\n

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MAJOR WORKS:<\/strong><\/p>\n