Emerson was the organizer of the American spiritual and literary and social activism movement that today we know as Transcendentalism. His grave is a rough-hewn outsized boulder, and reflects his deep respect for raw nature, for the inner, uncut stone of the individual soul. It also shows his willingness to let his light shine, as he was a writer, an editor and publisher of the Dial, as well as the salon-maker and general patron of the movement in Concord and Boston.
Tom Morris and Jim Moore visited his grave site on September 11, 2006
From the Encyclopedia Brittanica:
born May 25, 1803, Boston, Mass., U.S.
died April 27, 1882, Concord
U.S. poet, essayist, and lecturer.
Emerson graduated from Harvard University and was ordained a Unitarian minister in 1829. His questioning of traditional doctrine led him to resign the ministry three years later. He formulated his philosophy in Nature (1836); the book helped initiate New England Transcendentalism, a movement of which he soon became the leading exponent. In 1834 he moved to Concord, Mass., the home of his friend Henry David Thoreau. His lectures on the proper role of the scholar and the waning of the Christian tradition caused considerable controversy. In 1840, with Margaret Fuller, he helped launch The Dial, a journal that provided an outlet for Transcendentalist ideas. He became internationally famous with his Essays (1841, 1844), including Self-Reliance. Representative Men (1850) consists of biographies of historical figures. The Conduct of Life (1860), his most mature work, reveals a developed humanism and a full awareness of human limitations. His Poems (1847) and May-Day (1867) established his reputation as a major poet.
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