Emerson's Earlier Poems Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1908 Original Publisher: The Macmillan Co. Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you c... more »an select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: NOTES GOOD-BY Written by Emerson, in his twenty-third year, upon his return from Boston to'Roxbury. In spite of evident youthful exaggeration it discloses his love for Nature and his conscious- ' ness of Nature as the medium through which man may meet God. 30. With God may meet. These closing lines stand on a bronze tablet on Schoolmaster's Hill -- named for Emerson -- in Franklin Park, Roxbury. RHODORA Rhododendron Rhodora is the botanical name. Nature, the dress of the divine, and man, the divine essence extended into the finite, are alike moved by instinct to exhibit their beauty, -- for the divine is love, beauty, and truth. BUMBLEBEE A careful study of the diction of this poem will show how successful Emerson has been in selecting and combining words which will suggest by their sound the habits and activities of the bee. 3. Porto Rique. Porto Rico, one of the West Indies, the smallest of the Great Antilles. 16. Epicurean. Devoted to luxury and sensual enjoyment, as these were qualities which many of the followers of Epicurus showed. FABLE A sprightly piece of wit, suggesting Emerson's teaching of compensation. BERRYING The conception, which will often be met in Emerson, of a divine power superintending both man and Nature. Cf. Rhodora. 7. Ethiops. This is a case of metaphor, the black faces of the berries suggesting the black faces of the Africans, who were in early times called Ethiopians -- the literal meaning of which is "burnt face." THE PARK Again the message of Nature, that through her God may be found. FORBEARANCE To learn Nature's se...« less