The Old Manse
14/05/2007 08:46 PM
Today at the Old Manse I was very
excited to see the study that belonged to both Ralph Waldo Emerson
and Nathaniel Hawthorne at different times. This room stood out for
me more than the rest in the house both because of the three
historical events that took place within and because of the stories
our tour guide told us. She described Emerson’s years at Harvard
and his attempt to get through Divinity school, which was
unsuccessful. He always felt the religion just didn’t suit him
properly and couldn’t bring himself to give communion, so he
decided instead to drop out. Believing himself to be a failure
because the five generations behind him had been ministers, he
traveled to Europe to raise his spirits, and it was in Europe where
he discovered the philosophy of Transcendentalism. The teachings of
the philosophy “spoke to his soul” and, when he returned to
America, he practiced the idea that God is within every being and
everything in nature and turning it into more of a religion than a
philosophy. This discovery prompted the transcendental movement,
and an explosion of great American literature.
Emerson placed his desk between two windows that faced out towards what was then untouched nature and the view helped inspire him to write. It was at that desk that he wrote the first drafts of his essay “Nature,” which is considered by some to be the “Bible of the Transcendentalists.” Years later, Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife lived in the Old Manse and while they were there, Hawthorne built himself a desk that faced against the wall opposite the windows; he said he could not concentrate while at Emerson’s desk because the same nature that inspired Emerson only distracted Hawthorne and instead has his back face the view of outside. It was interesting to note the differences in the two authors’ characters. The room is also the very same one that his grandmother stood looking out at the North Bridge, where first shots of the Revolutionary War took place. The fact that many important events of history took place within one room is amazing; the fact that I was standing in the spirit of it all was astounding.
Emerson placed his desk between two windows that faced out towards what was then untouched nature and the view helped inspire him to write. It was at that desk that he wrote the first drafts of his essay “Nature,” which is considered by some to be the “Bible of the Transcendentalists.” Years later, Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife lived in the Old Manse and while they were there, Hawthorne built himself a desk that faced against the wall opposite the windows; he said he could not concentrate while at Emerson’s desk because the same nature that inspired Emerson only distracted Hawthorne and instead has his back face the view of outside. It was interesting to note the differences in the two authors’ characters. The room is also the very same one that his grandmother stood looking out at the North Bridge, where first shots of the Revolutionary War took place. The fact that many important events of history took place within one room is amazing; the fact that I was standing in the spirit of it all was astounding.