Thank you so much for this, Jesse. I read it yesterday and found it to be so rich I wanted to read it several more times before commenting. I love how deeply you delve into the things that interest, inform, and nourish you, and how generously you share what you have learned and what you think and feel. It’s as if you dive into a sea and return with troves of treasures. Troves!
I will return to this again because I love the story of Whitman and Emerson. Emerson’s benediction to Whitman - “I greet you at the beginning of a great career” - has always for me brought tears. One can only imagine what that meant to Whitman.
I love that in the course of this beautiful birthday tribute you apologize to both Emerson and Whitman! It reminds me of when I was a little girl, I used to apologize to inanimate things if I would bump into them. My brother always thought that was funny. Obviously, Whitman and Emerson are not inanimate things, but really, I don’t even consider inanimate things to be inanimate!
Anyway, I just love that you apologize to them.
Thank you for all the great quotations as well. I truly appreciate all that you bring to this Substack, and to the world.
I always save your posts for with my Sunday morning coffee. This one was especially rich, and also beautifully written. I felt that for the first time in my life I knew Emerson a little better. I know his ideas and writings influenced my beloved Louisa May Alcott, and was happy to learn more; my entire American Literature survey course long ago in college was less interesting and insightful than this one post of yours! And your inclusion of quotes always makes me reach for a pen to record some of the best in my commonplace book.
Concord has long been on my bucket list of places to visit and at the top of that list is, of course, Fruitlands and Orchard House. I would love also to see Emerson’s home, and the Old Manse where newlyweds Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody wrote on the window with a diamond. So much literary history there, and you bring it so vividly to life!
Thank you for all your carefully researched and highly insightful posts. I enjoy them very much.:-)
I apologize for the late reply! I was out of town and did not realize you had so eloquently replied to my response to your post! I enjoyed rereading the link you provided. Thank you! It’s so kind and thoughtful of you to make time for each of your subscribers.
I wrote at least eight of Whitman’s quotes in my common place book, but two of them resonated most:
“There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination” is the first. (Oh, how wonderful it feels, when the ideas come, my writing flows smoothly, and time stands still!)
And “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or find it not.” This is so poignant that I have been thinking of it as I wake each day. To me it says also that if we cultivate inner beauty—-which to me means above all else, kindness as much as it means being imaginative and educating one’s mind and heart in matters of art, literature, music, philosophy—-that we will live in a beautiful world even if we do not have the great scope of the physical globe at our disposal much of the time.
I fully intend to see Concord and all of its treasures one day! I love that you know it so throughly and have spent so many meaningful hours there.:-)
Ahhhh, thank you so so so so much. Your comment made me so happy. "my entire American Literature survey course long ago in college was less interesting and insightful than this one post of yours," ahhhh this is the true best :) Thank you <3 I really love the thought and image of you saving my posts for your Sunday morning coffee - that's really my dream for how people would consume them and what I hope for/wish/imagine, so thank you so much for letting me know that this dream is also a reality. <3 <3 And I truly recommend a visit to Concord. I try to go every year in July for Henry's birthday month which started when I would attend the Thoreau Society Annual Gatherings. Here is a post more about that: https://jesseparissmith.substack.com/p/henry-oh-henry Thank you so so much again for everything :) Have a wonderful Sunday!!
Finally getting the chance to read this:) Very informative for those not so familiar with the history of these great men. The addition of the story about you and your friend 'dancing' around the bookstore in search of books for each other to read...I can totally see it! The image sits with me and makes me smile:)
You know I love it when you share quotes, and I loved looking through the collection here. The ones that immediately sprang out for me were:
"Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? , To be great is to be misunderstood." That one really resonates with me.
Also, "I respect cats, they seem to have so much else in their heads besides their mess." This one made me smile - yes, another smile:)
I am going to read over everything here in more depth later in the day, but I could not let the morning pass without acknowledging another great post!
Ohhh yayy, I love that quote, too - I used it in a song that I wrote in 2022 to perform in Concord,, It's a perfect quote for misfits and good renegades. I also like thinking about the fact that when Emerson suggested the edits to Walt Whitman he responded to the suggestion by living that quote of Emerson's. You know?
I am a terrible recipient of editing suggestions. My eyes usually widen, my mouth falls open....I then compose myself and give what I consider to be a rational explanation for leaving it exactly as it is:))
Thanks for a beautiful, interesting and entertaining article. Whitman, Emerson and many other North American writers reached my sight in Colombia, where I grew up, thanks to my wonderful high school teacher Sussy Schambach. Already then, Emerson’s images were soothing. Whitman was for me more of a reflection. I still hang on to a simple paperback edition of Leaves of Grass I bought to keep me company during my stay in Massachusetts. I didn’t don’t know of their connection until I read you! Thanks also for that.
Ohhhh wow I love this - thank you so so much for sharing, and thank goodness for Sussy. It's so wonderful when we can have a teacher like that who waltzes in changes our lives, saves us from mediocrity that so often leads our schooling. Thank you again so so much for sharing,, <3 <3 <3
Thank you for this wonderful article, Jesse! And thanks for the samples - I particularly love studying the handwriting of both these gentlemen. A happy birthday to them is a happy day for all of us. You are fortunate to have that early edition of LOG in your collection.
"O Captain! My Captain!" was a favorite of my father. Ideas have lifespans, and can live with us beyond many births and deaths.
BTW Didn't Lawrence Ferlinghetti quote or paraphrase
'I Greet You at the / Beginning of A / Great Career / R.W. Emerson.' to Allen Ginsberg, early in his career?
Ohh I don't have the edition of Leaves of Grass, I only looked at it up close at the book fair! :)
It's so nice that your father loved the poem from Whitman - I have that one framed on the wall in my studio :) When I walk in it's one of the first things I see.
Absolutely a most wonderful post, Jesse. Your admiration for and knowledge of these two remarkable writers, remarkable humans, add a deeper appreciation for this tribute marking their
birthdays. And as a added bonus I learned things I didn't know about Emmerson.
Thank you so much for this! I especially appreciate reading this right now, after seeing a wonderful presentation by Janisse Ray, who is one of my favorite writers. Her talk was on the importance of place, and I came away so inspired. Here’s a bit from her memoir Ecology of a Cracker Childhood: “I carry the landscape inside me like an ache. The story of who I am cannot be severed from the story of the flatwoods.”
Ohhh thank you so so much for sharing this, Monica :) I always love your insights and reflections so much. It's always the best to hear from you :)) Thank you!!!
Thank you, Jesse, for such an informative article. I particularly enjoyed the quotes from each of these great thinkers. And I didn’t know that Walt had approved of my usual
habit of speaking to strangers. An uplifting moment for me today.
Thank you as always, Jesse, for your work and your sharing. There is much good in it. 🙏
I have a teacher who is fond of saying "be curious, not critical." Now I know where he got it from. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this, Jesse. I read it yesterday and found it to be so rich I wanted to read it several more times before commenting. I love how deeply you delve into the things that interest, inform, and nourish you, and how generously you share what you have learned and what you think and feel. It’s as if you dive into a sea and return with troves of treasures. Troves!
I will return to this again because I love the story of Whitman and Emerson. Emerson’s benediction to Whitman - “I greet you at the beginning of a great career” - has always for me brought tears. One can only imagine what that meant to Whitman.
I love that in the course of this beautiful birthday tribute you apologize to both Emerson and Whitman! It reminds me of when I was a little girl, I used to apologize to inanimate things if I would bump into them. My brother always thought that was funny. Obviously, Whitman and Emerson are not inanimate things, but really, I don’t even consider inanimate things to be inanimate!
Anyway, I just love that you apologize to them.
Thank you for all the great quotations as well. I truly appreciate all that you bring to this Substack, and to the world.
With gratitude and affection,
Robin
I always save your posts for with my Sunday morning coffee. This one was especially rich, and also beautifully written. I felt that for the first time in my life I knew Emerson a little better. I know his ideas and writings influenced my beloved Louisa May Alcott, and was happy to learn more; my entire American Literature survey course long ago in college was less interesting and insightful than this one post of yours! And your inclusion of quotes always makes me reach for a pen to record some of the best in my commonplace book.
Concord has long been on my bucket list of places to visit and at the top of that list is, of course, Fruitlands and Orchard House. I would love also to see Emerson’s home, and the Old Manse where newlyweds Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody wrote on the window with a diamond. So much literary history there, and you bring it so vividly to life!
Thank you for all your carefully researched and highly insightful posts. I enjoy them very much.:-)
Oh! Also, which quotes were your favorites?? <3
I apologize for the late reply! I was out of town and did not realize you had so eloquently replied to my response to your post! I enjoyed rereading the link you provided. Thank you! It’s so kind and thoughtful of you to make time for each of your subscribers.
I wrote at least eight of Whitman’s quotes in my common place book, but two of them resonated most:
“There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination” is the first. (Oh, how wonderful it feels, when the ideas come, my writing flows smoothly, and time stands still!)
And “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or find it not.” This is so poignant that I have been thinking of it as I wake each day. To me it says also that if we cultivate inner beauty—-which to me means above all else, kindness as much as it means being imaginative and educating one’s mind and heart in matters of art, literature, music, philosophy—-that we will live in a beautiful world even if we do not have the great scope of the physical globe at our disposal much of the time.
I fully intend to see Concord and all of its treasures one day! I love that you know it so throughly and have spent so many meaningful hours there.:-)
Ahhhh, thank you so so so so much. Your comment made me so happy. "my entire American Literature survey course long ago in college was less interesting and insightful than this one post of yours," ahhhh this is the true best :) Thank you <3 I really love the thought and image of you saving my posts for your Sunday morning coffee - that's really my dream for how people would consume them and what I hope for/wish/imagine, so thank you so much for letting me know that this dream is also a reality. <3 <3 And I truly recommend a visit to Concord. I try to go every year in July for Henry's birthday month which started when I would attend the Thoreau Society Annual Gatherings. Here is a post more about that: https://jesseparissmith.substack.com/p/henry-oh-henry Thank you so so much again for everything :) Have a wonderful Sunday!!
Finally getting the chance to read this:) Very informative for those not so familiar with the history of these great men. The addition of the story about you and your friend 'dancing' around the bookstore in search of books for each other to read...I can totally see it! The image sits with me and makes me smile:)
You know I love it when you share quotes, and I loved looking through the collection here. The ones that immediately sprang out for me were:
"Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? , To be great is to be misunderstood." That one really resonates with me.
Also, "I respect cats, they seem to have so much else in their heads besides their mess." This one made me smile - yes, another smile:)
I am going to read over everything here in more depth later in the day, but I could not let the morning pass without acknowledging another great post!
Ohhh yayy, I love that quote, too - I used it in a song that I wrote in 2022 to perform in Concord,, It's a perfect quote for misfits and good renegades. I also like thinking about the fact that when Emerson suggested the edits to Walt Whitman he responded to the suggestion by living that quote of Emerson's. You know?
Thank you so so much :) <3
I am a terrible recipient of editing suggestions. My eyes usually widen, my mouth falls open....I then compose myself and give what I consider to be a rational explanation for leaving it exactly as it is:))
Thanks for a beautiful, interesting and entertaining article. Whitman, Emerson and many other North American writers reached my sight in Colombia, where I grew up, thanks to my wonderful high school teacher Sussy Schambach. Already then, Emerson’s images were soothing. Whitman was for me more of a reflection. I still hang on to a simple paperback edition of Leaves of Grass I bought to keep me company during my stay in Massachusetts. I didn’t don’t know of their connection until I read you! Thanks also for that.
Ohhhh wow I love this - thank you so so much for sharing, and thank goodness for Sussy. It's so wonderful when we can have a teacher like that who waltzes in changes our lives, saves us from mediocrity that so often leads our schooling. Thank you again so so much for sharing,, <3 <3 <3
Wow, the scope and thoughtfulness of this post just dazzles me.
It is truly informative and inspiring.
It has given me a deeper understanding and a new curiosity to these two icons of American writing and thought.
Thank you so much, Jesse.
💙✨💙✨
A joy to read more about two evergreen souls. Thank you
Thank you for this wonderful article, Jesse! And thanks for the samples - I particularly love studying the handwriting of both these gentlemen. A happy birthday to them is a happy day for all of us. You are fortunate to have that early edition of LOG in your collection.
"O Captain! My Captain!" was a favorite of my father. Ideas have lifespans, and can live with us beyond many births and deaths.
BTW Didn't Lawrence Ferlinghetti quote or paraphrase
'I Greet You at the / Beginning of A / Great Career / R.W. Emerson.' to Allen Ginsberg, early in his career?
I'm so happy you told me about this -- It makes everything even more multi layered and special
Ohh I don't have the edition of Leaves of Grass, I only looked at it up close at the book fair! :)
It's so nice that your father loved the poem from Whitman - I have that one framed on the wall in my studio :) When I walk in it's one of the first things I see.
I didn't know about LF writing the same words to AG - that is so great :) I just looked it up to see the full story/letter and found it here: https://allenginsberg.org/2015/07/the-ginsberg-ferlinghetti-letters/
thank you so much for sharing this!! More and more through lines and connections through time :)
Thanks for looking up that book! I didn't know about it.
After reading your article, last night at a venue in Eugene, I mentioned the fact (not!) that it was Emerson's birthday- I got the two dates mixed up!
I told the audience that if anyone could come on stage and recite some Emerson lines, I'd play Wipeout. No takers!
Which book?? 📕
The Ginsberg-Ferlighetti letters.
Ohh!
Absolutely a most wonderful post, Jesse. Your admiration for and knowledge of these two remarkable writers, remarkable humans, add a deeper appreciation for this tribute marking their
birthdays. And as a added bonus I learned things I didn't know about Emmerson.
Thank you.
Thank you so so much!! It was really fun to write :)
https://kevinslick.substack.com/p/happy-birthday-walt-whitman
Ohhh this is such a lovely and strong reading - thank you so so much for sharing with us :))
Merci pour ces découvertes je vais les lire
Belle poésie et belle prose et belles lectures
Thank you so much for this! I especially appreciate reading this right now, after seeing a wonderful presentation by Janisse Ray, who is one of my favorite writers. Her talk was on the importance of place, and I came away so inspired. Here’s a bit from her memoir Ecology of a Cracker Childhood: “I carry the landscape inside me like an ache. The story of who I am cannot be severed from the story of the flatwoods.”
Ohhh thank you so so much for sharing this, Monica :) I always love your insights and reflections so much. It's always the best to hear from you :)) Thank you!!!
You might find of interest the Local Gems Press publication "Walt Whitman Two Hundred and Five: A Poetry Anthology for Walt Whitman's 205th Birthday."
Ohh thank you so much! Just looked it up,, https://www.localgemspoetrypress.com/walt-whitman-205-anthology.html
Thank you, Jesse, for such an informative article. I particularly enjoyed the quotes from each of these great thinkers. And I didn’t know that Walt had approved of my usual
habit of speaking to strangers. An uplifting moment for me today.
Ohh I love that, too :)) <3 <3
Love the transcendentalisms 🙌