Literary Transcendentalism: Style and Vision in the American Renaissance

351 Pages·1975·21.564 MB·English

by  Lawrence Buell

LITERARY
TRANSCENDENTA LISM
Style and l1ision in the
American Renaissance

LITERARY
TRANSCENDENTA LISM
Style and Vision in the
American Renaissance
LAWRENCE BUELL
Cornell Paperbacks
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 1973 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850,
or visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
First published 1973 by Cornell University Press.
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 1975.
The lines from Howl and Other Poems, by Allen Ginsberg,
copyright © 1956, 1959 by Allen Ginsberg, are reprinted
by permission of City Lights Books.
International Standard Book Number 978-0-8014-9152-8
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 73-8409
The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
TO MY FAMILY

Acknowledgments
This book owes its existenee to a sueeession of teaehers who
showed me the possibilities of literary study by example as
well as preseription. For support and eriticism in my studies of
Transeendentalism, 1 am grateful to James MeConkey, G. Ferris
Cronkhite, Walter Slatoff, and especially Jonathan Bishop.
Equally important has been Arthur Mizener's constant eneour-
agement through the years.
To Oberlin College 1 am indebted for support (through a
leave of absenee and two grants-in-aid) to pursue researeh. The
George and Eliza Howard Foundation also supported my re-
seareh with a generous grant in 1969-1970.
My colleagues Dewey Ganzel, Robert Pieree, and John Olm-
sted read portions of this manuseript at various stages of its
evolution and eontributed valuable insights. Richard Brown,
in many long eonversations, helped my understanding of New
England history. 1 am also indebted to former Oberlin students
for suggestions on a number of topies, especially to Suzanne
Bernstein, Dan Campbell, and Bruee Nygren. Ms. Bernstein
also served as my researeh assistant in 1971.
The offieers of several libraries have given me permission to
examine and quote from manuseripts in their possession. Quo-
tations from manuseripts by Emerson, Thoreau, A. Bronson
Alcott, and William Ellery Channing II are by permission of
the Harvard College Library. The Massaehusetts Historical
Soeiety has granted permission to quote from manuseripts by
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Theodore Parker and Christopher Cranch; the Andover-Har-
vard Theological Library of the Harvard Divinity School, from
Theodore Parker; the Boston Public Library, from Elizabeth
Peabody; and the "\Vellesley College Library, from Jones Very.
For permission to quote from manuscripts by Emerson, Alcott,
Channing, and Cranch l am indebted also to the Ralph Waldo
Emerson Memorial Association, to Mrs. F. Wolsey Pratt, to Mr.
Laurence M. Channing, and to Mrs. Emerson Evans, respec-
tively.
Doubleday & Company, Inc., has granted permission to re-
print "A Transcendental Conversation" from The American
Transcendentalists, edited by Perry Miller.
Earlier versions of a few portions of this book appeared in
American Quarterly (1968, 1972) and in American Transcen-
dental Quarterly (1971). l am grateful to the editors for permis-
sion to use this material here.
l am grateful also to the staff of the Oberlin College Steno-
graphic Services Department for typing my manuscript.
Finally, l have dedicated this book to my family, to whom l
owe much more than any public acknowledgment can tell.
LAWRENCE BUELL
Oberlin, Ohio
Con ten ts
Abbreviations XI
Introduction
PART I. BACKGROUND AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES 21
1 The Emergence of the Transcendentalist Aesthetic from
American U nitarianism 23
2 Transcendentalist Literary Method: Inspiration versus
Craftsmanship 55
PART lI. THE LIVING WORD 75
3 From Conversation to Essay 77
4 From Sermon to Scripture 102
PART IlI. WORD AND WORLD: NATURE AS A MODEL FOR
LITERARY FORM 141
5 Emerson and the Idea of Microcosmic Form 145
6 Catalogue Rhetoric 166
7 Thoreau and the Literary Excursion 188
8 Thoreau's A Week 208
9 Ellery Channing: The Major Phase of a Minor Poet 239
PART IV. THE FIRST PERSON 263
10. Transcendentalist Self-Examination and Autobiograph-
ical Tradition
11. Emerson and Thoreau: Soul versus Self
12. Transcendental Egoism in Very and Whitman
Index
331