Background: Session Two B

Emerson Life History Extensions. Readers of Emerson biographies present their partly fictionalized "extensions" of significant events/periods in his life.

Session Summary

In order to get more of a feel for different aspects of Ralph Waldo Emerson's life, some readers of the biographies in the group wrote partly fictionalized extensions of one of Waldo's significant life events or periods.

Linda chose to write about the insecure, frustrated Emerson at age 19 whose deep inner conflicts seemed best expressed in gothic-like horror stories where he as narrator stood as the outsider. This early dark, fantasy-style fiction that echoed the fears of a brooding Calvinistic deity was a genre he seemed never to explore again in his life. We discussed the possibilities of why he didn't continue in this Edgar Allan Poe-like vein. Perhaps this approach to writing exposed too much of the painful suffering and despair in his life, that is, the many deaths of loved-ones, in particular his father's. Thus, he turned for consolation to the Christian sermon genre and then to the positive, aphoristic essay for which he became so famous. Perhaps at some level the essays in their distinctive style of controlled, consolidated "truth" masks this same fear of an overwhelming chaos.

It seems unfortunate that this darker, bleaker side of him was not, or could not, be integrated into his adult life. Where did this 19-year-old Waldo go? His unlived life, Paul mused, went into his body and stayed in his unconsciousness. Perhaps there were times when he had opportunities to reintegrate this darker element. Paul spoke that during adult crises we tend to think and feel like an adolescent again. For instance, during one of his Paul began appreciating the music of his youth again.

From what we can tell, it appears that Emerson chose not to enter the road of truly grieving over his father's absence. Was he ever conscious of how he felt and who he really was at this deep level? Perhaps his denial was a way of coming to terms with a difficult reality. We are beginning as a group to see Emerson as more than just a one-dimensional inspirational poet but as a complex man of unresolved contradictions.

Dave chose to write on the period from 1829 - 31 when Emerson began moving from his conventional Christian minister role into his truer vocation of writing and teaching with personal integrity. He saw an Emerson appalled at how, as a pastor, he had fallen blindly into the footsteps of his father with the impotence associated with "second-hand" faith. Through readings in science, poetry and philosophy, along with moments of direct perception which he called Reason, Emerson was starting to build an authentic personal perspective. He asserted that the real realm of the miraculous was nature, not the "supernatural" world that traditionalists claimed.

This Emerson felt pushed to live out his core beliefs through encountering heightened experiences of awareness. "In my study my faith is perfect," he remarks. It was said that Emerson wasn't prepared for the fact that what brings life - nature - would also kill him. Perhaps Emerson had learned that life can have meaning in the study of nature, and less so in the direct, chaotic experience of nature (particularly death and sex).

Emerson seemed simultaneously attracted to nature but needing to distance himself through the use of mental categories. He does, however, go beyond the strict scientific categorization of nature, and is aware that the key is the perceptual relationship between human consciousness and nature. It seems he didn't want to get caught up in nature as "nature". He connects spirit to matter - to the details - but goes beyond the merely scientific realm for explaining life.

Eldon thought it interesting that, for all the disconnectedness of his life, Emerson is more hopeful than Edgar Allan Poe. It would also be interesting to have Emerson himself sit in on our discussions of his life. Would it be healing? Was he somehow there in spirit?

Paul said that Emerson is "representative man" for us. He contains varied strengths and weaknesses. If we are honest and insightful we can relate to him, for one of Emerson's main messages seems to be that all experience something of everything. We all share in the spectrum of what it is to be human. In light of this unity of all things, how can we judge him?

As Emerson also added in "Oversoul": "Faith comes in moments, our vice is habitual." We have moments of clarity but we often live sleepily, with our eyes of faith virtually closed. He also said that "all biography is finally autobiographical." We mused that it is interesting to look at Emerson's life (Bev said it was easier to talk about his life than her own) but all our research on him is also an attempt to understand ourselves.

Paul read Emerson's poem "The Problem" which among other things notices that the "perfect" Parthenon, to many the epitome of human architecture, is but a reflection of the perfect harmony in nature herself. He later commented that one angle of this material is a questioning of our lofty life expectations. Wouldn't it be better or more sane to say to ourselves: "I awake. It's another day. I wonder if I will see something different today."

Bev's extension dealt with Emerson's travel in Europe in 1832. It seemed ironic that Emerson, during his travels, was attracted to the old traditions and rituals of Christendom in Rome, while he had left institutional religion far behind at home. He must have felt disconnected or split inside. In response, others in the group reflected on their own travels. Church cathedrals strike us as monuments to God's glory yet the religion found inside, just beyond the colorful ritual, is invariably stifling and life diminishing. Emerson, like us, is of two minds perhaps more than we admit.

Paul said that Emerson was finding that the world was the church, and that you can't go back and stay in the original "container" once you have found a vibrant sense of spirituality outside. We can go back and see that the church or the Bible or that other container is one place for experiencing faith, but never again THE definitive place.

Lyle spoke of Emerson's "year of years" (1834) when Emerson's new vision of transcendental Nature was excitedly coming together. His readings and reflections would later become the essay entitled "Nature" where he would espouse the unity of all things, beyond sense appearances. With this vision we can have hope because we, with eyes of Reason (or Intuition), are able to see the commonalities of life, rather than merely the opposites and differences. He realized that time or occupation was immaterial, and that geniuses throughout history basically talk about the same thing.

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