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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Selected Criticism on Emerson's Poetry

General Criticism on Poetry:

  • Adkins, Nelson F. "Emerson and the Bardic Tradition." PMLA 63 (June 1948): 662-77.
  • Gross, Seymour L. "Emerson and Poetry." South Atlantic Quarterly 54 (Jan 1955): 82-84. Partially reprinted in Critics on Emerson.
  • Strauch, Carl F. "Emerson and the Longevity of the Mind." Emerson Society Quarterly no. 14 (1 Quarter 1959): 60-68.
  • Pearce, Roy Harvey. "Emerson." In The Continuity of American Poetry, pp. 153-64. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1961.
  • Miles, Josephine. "Emerson's Wise Universe." Minnesota Review 2 (Spring 1962): 305-13. Reprinted in American Literature, ed. Young and Fine.
  • Reaver, J. Russell. "Mythology in Emerson's Poems." Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 39 (2 Quarter 1965): 56-63.
  • San Juan, Epifanio, Jr. "Symbolic Significance in the Poems of Emerson." St. Louis Quarterly 4 (March 1966): 37-54.
  • Francis, Richard Lee. "Archangel in the Pleached Garden: Emerson's Poetry." ELH 33 (December 1966): 461-72.
  • Santayana, George. "Emerson's Poems Proclaim the Divinity of Nature, with Freedom as His Profoundest Ideal." In George Santayana's America: Essays in Literature and Culture, ed. James Ballowe, pp. 85-96. Urbana: U Ill P, 1967.
  • Kramer, Aaron. The Prophetic Tradition in American Poetry, 1835-1900. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1968.
  • Waggoner, Hyatt H. American Poets from the Puritans to the Present. Boston: Houghton Miffli, 1968.
  • Strauch, Carl F. "The Mind's Voice: Emerson's Poetic Styles." Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 60 (Summer 1970): 43-59.
  • Anderson, John Q. The Liberating Gods: Emerson on Poets and Poetry. Coral Gables, FL: U Miami P, 1971.
  • Bloom, Harold. "Bacchus and Merlin: The Dialectic of Romantic Poetry in America." Southern Review, n. s. 7 (Winter 1971): 140-75.
  • Fussell, Edwin. "Emerson and the Meter-Making Argument." In Lucifer in Harness: American Meter, Metaphor, and Diction, pp. 30-33. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1973.
  • Waggoner, Hyatt H. Emerson as a Poet. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1974.
  • Cowan, Michael H. "The Loving Proteus: Metamorphosis in Emerson's Poetry." American Transcendental Quarterly, no. 25 (Winter 1975): 11-22.
  • Porter, David. Emerson and Literary Change. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1978.
  • Yoder, R. A. Emerson and the Orphic Poet in America. Berkeley: U Cal P, 1978.
  • Schleiner, Louise. "Emerson's Orphic and Messianic Bard." ESQ 25 (4 Quarter 1979): 191-202.
  • Summerlin, Timothy. "To Reconcile or to Submit: The Changing Face of Joy in Emerson's Poetry." ATQ, no. 49 (Winter 1981): 5-20.
  • Ezekial, Nissim. "Emerson as Poet." Literary Criterion 17 (1982): 54-62.
  • Rao, G. Nageswara. "Poetry of Insight: An Approach to the Poetry of Emerson." Literary Criterion 18 (1983): 119-131.
  • Scheick, William J. "Emerson the Poet: A Twenty-Year Retrospective." American Poetry 1 (Spring 1984): 2-19.
  • Harding, Brian. "'Frolic Architecture': Music and Metamorphosis in Emerson's Poetry." In Nineteenth-Century American Poetry, ed. A. Robert Lee, pp. 100-117. Totowa NJ: Barnes and Noble, 1985.
  • Morris, Timothy. "The Free-rhyming Poetry of Emerson and Dickinson." Essays in Literature 12 (Fall 1985): 225-240.
  • Summerlin, Tim. "'To Heaven the Long Way Round.'" Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas 16 (Oct 1985): 3-8.
  • Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Poetry Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ed. Ralph H. Orth. Collumbia: Univ. Mo P, 1986. Pages 720-979.
  • Blasing, Mutlu Konuk. "Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essaying the Poet." In American Poetry: The Rhetoric of Its Forms, pp. 67-82, 225-226. New Haven: Yales UP, 1987.
  • Joshi, Mularam. Emerson: The Poet. Delhi, India: Mittal, 1987.
  • Fredman, Stephen. The Grounding of American Poetry: Charles Olson and the Emersonian Tradition. Cambridge, 1993.
  • Hudnut, Robert K. The Aesthetics of Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Materials and Methods of His Poetry. Edwin Mellen, 1996.
  • Friedl, Herwig. “"The Masks of Proteus: Emerson on the Nature of Poetry and the Poetry of Nature." Poetics in the Poem: Critical Essays on American Self-Reflexive Poetry, ed. Dorothy Z. Baker, 104-18. Peter Lang, 1997.
  • Thomas, Joseph M. "Late Emerson: Selected Poems and the 'Emerson Factory.'" ELH 65 (1998): 971-94.
  • Morris, Saundra. "'Metre-Making' Arguments: Emerson's Poems." Cambridge Companion to Emerson, 218-42.

Criticism on Selected Poems:

"Bacchus"

  • Malloy, Charles. "'Bacchus': One of the World's Great Poems." Arena 32 (Nov. 1904): 504-13.
  • Paris, Bernard J. "Emerson's 'Bacchus.'" Modern Language Quarterly 23 (June 1962): 150-59.
"Blight" "Brahma"
  • Harris, W. T. "Emerson's 'Brahma' and the 'Bhagavad Gita.'" Poet-Lore 1 (June 1889), 253-59.
  • Carpenter, Frederic Ives. Emerson and Asia. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1930. Partially reprinted in Critics on Emerson. Includes his "Immortality from India." American Literature 1 (Nov 1929): 233-42.
  • Chandrasekharan, K. R. "Emerson's Brahma: An Indian Interpretation." NEQ 33 (Dec 1960): 506-12.
  • Stein, William Bysshe, John Russell, Marilyn Baldwin, and Gaylord C. Leroy. "Emerson's BRAHMA." Explicator 20 (Dec 1961): #29.
  • Peterson, Edith. "Emerson's 'Brahma.'" Orient/West 8, no. 6 (Nov-Dec 1963): 53-55.
  • Ross, Donald, Jr. "Emerson's 'Brahma.'" Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 39 (2 Quarter 1965): 42-43.
  • McLean, Andrew M. "Emerson's Brahma as an Expression of Brahman." NEQ 42 (March 1969): 115-22.
  • Leland, Charles. "A Defense of 'Brahma.'" In Critical Essays on Ralph Waldo Emerson, pp. 164-169.
  • Cameron, Kenneth Walter. "Emerson's 'Brahma': Early Explication and Commentary." American Renaissance Literary Report 2 (1988): 197-223.
  • Chandran, K. Narayana. "The Pining Gods and Sages in Emerson's 'Brahma.'" English Language Notes 27 (Sept 1989): 55-57.
  • Cameron, Kenneth Walter. "Emerson's Brahma Without Its Hindu Trappings--A Late Homily on the Times?" American Renaissance Literary Report 5 (1991): 57-94.
"Concord Hymn"
  • Arms, G. W., J. P. Kirby, L. G. Locke, and J. E. Whitesell. "Emerson's CONCORD HYMN." Explicator 1 (Dec 1942): #23.
  • Hodges, Robert. "Public Sentiment and Poetic Diction: A Reading of Emerson's 'Concord Hymn.'" Vis a Vis 3 (May 1975): 15-20.
  • Anderson, Douglas. "Huckleberry Finn and Emerson's 'Concord Hymn,'" Nineteenth-Century Fiction 40 (June 1985): 43-60.
"Days"
  • Strauch, Carl F. "The Manuscript Relationships of Emerson's 'Days.'" Philological Quarterly 29 (April 1950): 199-208.
  • White, James E. "Emerson's 'Hypocritic Days': Actors or Deceivers?" Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 33 (4 Quarter 1963): 72-73.
  • D'Avanzo, Mario L. "Emerson's 'Days' and Proverbs." American Transcendental Quarterly, no 1 (1 Quarter 1969): 83-85.
  • Tuerk, Richard. "Emerson's Darker Vision: 'Hamatreya' and 'Days.'" American Transcendental Quarterly, no. 25 (Winter 1975): 28-33.
  • Hilway, Tyrus. "Emerson's Days." Explicator 34 (May 1976): #69.
  • Grimes, Linda S. "Emerson's 'Days,'" Explicator 45 (Fall 1986): 22-23.
  • Walcutt, Charles C. "Emerson's 'Days,'" Explicator 46 (Summer 1988):, 16-17.
"Each and All"
  • Arms, George. "The Dramatic Movement in Emerson's 'Each and All.'" English Language Notes 1 (March 1964):, 207-11.
  • San Juan, Epifanio, Jr. "Explication of Emerson's 'Each and All.'" Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 43 (2 Quarter 1966): 106-09.
  • D'Avanzo, Mario L. "Seeing and Hearing in 'Each and All.'" ESQ 19 (4 Quarter 1973): 231-35.
  • Miller, Norman. "Emerson's 'Each and All' Concept: A Reexamination," In Critical Essays on Ralph Waldo Emerson, pp. 346-54.
"Give All to Love"
  • Cowan, Michael C. "Emerson's GIVE ALL TO LOVE." Explicator 18 (May 1960): #49.
"Gnothi Seauton"
  • Cameron, Kenneth W. "The Genesis and Meaning of Emerson's 'Gnothi Seauton' (1831)," American Renaissance Literary Report, 3 (1989): 85-120.
"Hamatreya"
  • Bridgman, Richard. "The Meaning of Emerson's Title, 'Hamatreya.'" Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 27 (2 Quarter 1962): 16.
  • Rockwell, Kiffin Ayres. "Emerson's Hamatreya--Another Guess." Emerson Society Quarterly, no 33 (4 Quarter 1963): 24.
  • Sharma, Mohan Lai. "Emerson's HAMATREYA." Explicator 26 (April 1968); #63.
  • Sharma, Moham Lai. "Emerson's Multilingual Coinage 'Hamatreya.'" Word Study 44, no. 2 (Dec 1968): 6-8.
  • Tuerk, Richard. "Emerson's Darker Vision: 'Hamatreya' and 'Days.'" American Transcendental Quarterly, no. 25 (Winter 1975): 28-33.
  • Petry, Alice Hall. "The Meeting of the Twain: Emerson's 'Hamatreya.'" English Language Notes 23 (March 1986): 47-51.
  • O'Keefe, Richard. "Scanning 'Hamatreya': Emerson as Miltonic Prosodist." ESP 3, ii (1992): 1-2.
"Merlin"
  • Malloy, Charles. "The Poems of Emerson." Coming Age 3 (April 1900): 374-82, 495-99.
  • Adkins, Nelson F. "Emerson and the Bardic Tradition." 63 (June 1948): 662-77.
  • Gilman, Owen W., Jr. "Merlin: E. A. Robinson's Debt to Emerson." Colby Library Quarterly 21 (Sept 1985): 134-141.
"The Problem"
  • Malloy, Charles. "The Poems of Emerson. The Problem." Arena 32 (July 1904): 339-48 and (Aug 1904): 145-51
  • Cameron, Kenneth Walter. "Early Background for Emerson's 'The Problem.'" Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 27 (2 Quarter 1962): 37-46.
  • Miller, Ruth. "The Poet and the Problem: An Explication." Literary Half-Yearly 7 (July 1966): 84-91.
"The Rhodora"
  • Axelrod, Steven G. "Teaching Emerson's 'The Rhodora.'" CEA Critic 36 (May 1974): 34-6.
  • Burns, Philip J. "Emerson's 'The Rhodora.'" Explicator 47 (summer 1989): 24-26.
  • Tuerk, Richard. "Emerson and the Wasting of Beauty: 'The Rhodora,'" ATQ n.s. 4 (March 1990): 5-11.
"The Snow-Storm"
  • Reiten, Sister Paula. "Emerson's THE SNOW-STORM." Explicator 22 (Jan 1964): #39.
  • D'Avanzo, Mario L. "'Unto the White Creator': The Snow of Dickinson and Emerson." NEQ 45 (June 1972): 278-80.
  • Vincent, Howard. "Two New England Snowstorms: From Fact to Poem, an Essay on Inspiration and Meaning." Revue des Langues Vivantes, US Bicentennial Issue (1976): 293-303.
  • Frank, Armin Paul. "Emerson and Stevens: The Poem as Hibernal Architecture." In Poetic Knowledge: Circumference and Center, ed. R. Hagenbuchle and J. T. Swann, pp. 141-151. Bonn: Bouvier, 1980.
  • Christensen, Inger. "The Organic Theory of Art in Romantic Poetry." In Papers from the First Nordic Conference for English Studies: Oslo 17-19 September 1980, ed. Stig Johansson and Bjorn Tysdahl, pp. 35-40. Oslo: Institute of English Studies, Oslo Univ., 1981.
  • Urschel, L. K. Emerson's 'The Snow-Storm.'" Explicator 50 (Fall 1991):, 15-16.
"The Sphinx"
  • Whitaker, Thomas R. "The Riddle of Emerson's 'Sphinx.'" American Literature 27 (May 1955): 179-95.
  • Rose, E. J. "Melville, Emerson, and the Sphinx." NEQ 36 (June 1963): 249-58.
  • Pulos, C. E. "Walden and Emerson's 'The Sphinx.'" American Transcendental Quarterly, no. 1 (1 Quarter 1969): 7-11.
  • Tuerk, Richard. "Emerson as a Translator--'The Phoenix.'" Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 63 (Spring 1961): 24-26.
  • Storm, Melvin G., Jr. "The Riddle of 'The Sphinx': Another Approach." Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 62 (Winter 1971): 44-48.
  • Walcutt, Charles Child. "Emerson's The Sphinx." Explicator 31 (Nov 1972): #220.
  • Robinson, David. "The Romantic Quest in Poe and Emerson: 'Ulalume' and 'The Sphinx.'" American Transcendental Quarterly, no. 26 (Spring 1975): Supp. 26-30.
  • Smith, Gayle L. "The Language of Identity in Emerson's 'The Sphinx,'" ESQ 29 (3 Quarter 1983): 138-43.
  • Whitaker, THomas R. "The Riddle of Emerson's 'Sphinx'" in On Emerson.
  • Beattie, Paul H. "The Sphinx," Religious Humanism 22 (Spring 1988): 89-98.
  • Morris, Saundra. "The Threshold Poem, Emerson, and 'The Sphinx.'" AL 69 (1997): 547-70.
"Threnody"
  • Cohen, B. Bernard. "'Threnody': Emerson's Struggle with Grief." Folio [Indiana Univ.] 14 (Oct 1948): 13-15.
  • Chapman, Mary. "Economies of Loss: Emerson’s ‘Threnody’", American Transcendental Quarterly (June 2002): 1-15/
  • Reilly, John M. "'Threnody' and the Traditional Funeral Elegy." Emerson Society Quarterly, no. 47 (2 Quarter 1967): 17-19.
  • Porter, David. "'Threnody' and Emerson's Poetics of Failure." ESQ 22 (1 Quarter 1976): 1-13.
  • "Tuerk, Richard. "Mythic Patterns of Reconciliation in Emerson's 'Threnody.'" ESQ 27 (3 Quarter 1981): 181-88.
"Uriel"
  • Malloy, Charles. "The Poems of Emerson. Uriel." Arena 32 (Sept 1904): 278-83.
  • Cameron, Kenneth Walter. "Coleridge and teh Genesis of Emerson's 'Uriel.'" Philological Quarterly 30 (April 1951): 212-17.
  • Witemeyer, Hugh H. "'Line' and 'Round' in Emerson's 'Uriel.'" PMLA 82 (Mar 1967): 98-103.
  • Helmick, E. T. "Emerson's 'Uriel' as Poetic Theory." American Transcendental Quarterly, no 1 (1 Quarter 1969): 35-38.
  • St. Armand, Barton Levi. "Poe's Unnecessary Angel: 'Israfel' Reconsidered." In Ruined Eden of the Present: Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe. Ed. G. R. Thompson and V. L. Lokke, pp. 283-302. West Lafayette: Purdue UP, 1981.
  • Van Anglen, Kevin. "Emerson, Milton, and the Fall of Uriel," ESQ 30 (3 Quarter 1984): 138-153.