"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia"

"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" is very descriptive, not only of Emerson's works, but also of his personal life and the tragedies that he went through (Emerson). It speaks of his strggle to try to reach his place of peace (Emerson). He tried to go along with the Romanticists and Transcendentalists for quite a while, but eventually, later in his life, he went completely against everything he had believed in (Emerson). Earlier in his life, he had claimed that mourning and being upset would only hurt a person, and one should not do so. He had many tragedies in his life, though, and so he really needed to put into practice what he had said (Emerson). He actually did a pretty good job in following what he believed, even though it was hard for him. He went through life happy, and he relied on himself for a number of things. In fact, that is what he preached to others (Emerson). He wanted people to be self-reliant and to be able to get for themselves what they needed. He wanted them to figure things by using their intuition and not by using science or reason. He also thought being with nature and relaxing through getting away from society would really help other people. He was very into Romanticism and Trascendentalism early in his life, and he was very extreme in how much it influenced him and how much he tried to influence others by the way that he used them as well (Emerson). Soon, though, the pressures and tragedies of his life got to him, and he started to lose his original thinking and ideas (Emerson). He quickly turned away from everything he had known, and he walked away from Romanticism and Transcendentalism completely (Emerson). He turned in the total opposite direction, and he did things that went against everything he had preached in the early years of his life (Emerson). He mourned and was constantly upset, and he did not worry as much about nature or about relaxing (Emerson). He let everything that had happened to him finally catch up to him, and he mourned greatly over the losses of his young wife, early in their marriage, his brother, pretty soon after his wife died, and his young son, who was five years old when he passed away (Emerson). He realized that sometimes it is very important to mourn and realize the loss of a loved one can still be used for good. He recognized the fact that it is often good to celebrate the people for their lives as they were, not to dwell on the could have's, should have's, or would have's, because that will only make a person more upset than they would have been in the first place. Emerson learned many great lessons over the course of his life, and he realized that often, one must make a mistake or try a number of different things before a person can finally get at least somewhere close to right (Emerson). He learned that experience is very important in life, and so is remembering people as they were, not as what should have happened. Emerson was a great author and poet, even though he switched his style halfway through his life.

"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987). Quoted as "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On Fild, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=MCVRWE007&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 7, 2010).