The Individual’s Volition in Transcendentalism
Transcendentalists believe that God is not separate from the individual; God is within an individual in the sense that pieces of Him reside in everyone. The Transcendentalist’s role is to connect with the divine. And the one tool that they use to do so is intuition or that truth is a feeling or voice of God in one’s conscience. And two Transcendentalist thinkers that use this tool are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emerson and Thoreau display many Transcendentalists’ ideas in their works of literature. Many years later, from these works, two new poets rose to extend and modify the ideas - Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. The pieces of poetry written by these two great poets show one trait that seemed to also be displayed in many works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau; this trait was the volition given to humans by God. God has given everyone volition, thus giving everyone on earth a choice. As Transcendentalists, Emerson and Thoreau show this trait in their writings and essays very differently. Also, Emily Dickinson presents volition given to humans by God very differently from Walt Whitman. However, Walt Whitman portrays this trait better than Emily Dickinson does, just as Emerson seemed to express this trait in his works better than Thoreau. Emily Dickinson shows volition through the impression of death, particularly in Dickinson’s poem, “A Soul Selects her Own society,” whereas Whitman expresses volition using different ideas most notably in “Song of Myself.” In the same way, Emerson expresses volition through human beliefs which can be found in his writing, “Self-Reliance,” while Thoreau displays volition through the idea of war and government, especially in his essay “Civil Disobedience.”
Henry David Thoreau uses a lot of comparisons of government in his discussions and writings. In his literary work, “Civil Disobedience,” it says “But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it” (Thoreau 3-4). Thoreau says that government should show respect to the people it is governing or else the government should not govern at all. This indicates the belief he held about how all people in society possess volition and as the people of a certain area, the people must use their volition to stand against something that they don’t believe in. “After all, the practical reason why, when power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule, is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority (Thoreau 4). Thoreau provides an example of what was described earlier. Not everyone is proud to be a part of a movement because they want to be or they feel as if they are helping; they are part of something because the majority of the people are a part of it, and more people ought to consider the true fact that they have volition to make their own decisions. Also, Thoreau compares his outlooks on volition to the Mexican-American War and the slavery that was occurring at the time (he disagrees with both the war and the enslavement of human beings) but he especially disagrees with any notion of partaking in war. War is one of the aspects that Thoreau uses to display volition, especially volition of the people. This defines the margin of his literary works from that of Emerson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings show volition given to humans by God by comparing his ideas to the works and beliefs of modern and ancient man. For example, in Emerson’s writing, “Self-Reliance,” it states, “Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught books and traditions” (Emerson 5). Emerson illustrates these traits by comparing them to history and the accomplishments of man. “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion” (Emerson 10). Volition is prominently expressed in this line of the essay as Emerson says that everyman has a choice, but the one’s choices must not be based on jealousy but upon the way that is understood to be true and right. This is very similar to the way Thoreau displays volition, but Thoreau says that members of society most frequently follows others’ decisions. Emerson also states that every man must make his own decisions, whether they bring better or worse results.
Emily Dickinson portrays volition through death; many examples can be found in her poem, A Soul Selects her Own Society. In this poem, Dickinson discusses how the soul has to make a decision that will have to be kept for the rest of life, “the soul selects her own society—/then shuts the door—/to her divine majority—/present no more—“(Dickinson1-4). This part of the poem displays the idea of volition tremendously, the lines say that the soul has to make a decision, or in a Transcendentalists definition, God gave “her” a decision to make, he gave her the volition going in her own path. “unmoved—she notes the chariots—pausing—/At her low gate—/Unmoved—an emperor be kneeling /Upon her mat” (Dickinson 5-8). This particular stanza in Dickinson’s poem supports the idea of volition, no matter what a person’s status, whether a king or queen, the soul has chosen to do whatever it likes. The rhythms of Dickinson’s poems distinguish them from the rhythms used by Whitman’s. The same rhythm in all of Dickinson’s poems acts as a literary device that makes her poems a bit more interesting and creates a more meaningful tone.
Walt Whitman, however, has no certain tone attributed to his poems, but the rhythm-less scheme doesn’t drain out the meaningful verses. Walt Whitman’s unique style of writing contains a variety of different ideas in one long poem. Walt Whitman’s most famous poem, “Song of Myself,” displays many ideas of volition throughout the poem. “I believe in you my soul, the other I am must abase itself to you, and you must not be abased to the other” (Whitman 82-83). Whitman explains how the soul has volition, and even though every soul has volition, one must not use this great power to subjugate another soul. This is very much different than how Dickinson portrayed volition. Whitman explains that volition is not always something one can take advantage of, and Dickinson says that volition is essential and humans need to use it no matter what. But in the same way, Whitman also, says you must use volition, but not in ways to degrade the others. Whitman uniquely compares the simplest things in life. For example, “ The latest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies, authors, old and new, My dinner, dress associates, looks, compliments, dues” ( Whitman 68-69). Whitman shows that the listed factors can affect your life, and as repeated many times before: it is the decision of the human to make, whether they want these certain aspects of life to affect them in a certain way. Whitman’s writings compare himself and what he believes in to volition many times in his writings, but there are numerous varieties of ways they are showed.
Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson show their ways of portraying volition very differently than each other. But they all seem to be derived from the literary works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Many of the Transcendentalist aspects that are found in the writings of all four of these great writers are based off of different ideas expressing volition. This is what makes each of their literary works unique.
Transcendentalists believe that God is not separate from the individual; God is within an individual in the sense that pieces of Him reside in everyone. The Transcendentalist’s role is to connect with the divine. And the one tool that they use to do so is intuition or that truth is a feeling or voice of God in one’s conscience. And two Transcendentalist thinkers that use this tool are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emerson and Thoreau display many Transcendentalists’ ideas in their works of literature. Many years later, from these works, two new poets rose to extend and modify the ideas - Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. The pieces of poetry written by these two great poets show one trait that seemed to also be displayed in many works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau; this trait was the volition given to humans by God. God has given everyone volition, thus giving everyone on earth a choice. As Transcendentalists, Emerson and Thoreau show this trait in their writings and essays very differently. Also, Emily Dickinson presents volition given to humans by God very differently from Walt Whitman. However, Walt Whitman portrays this trait better than Emily Dickinson does, just as Emerson seemed to express this trait in his works better than Thoreau. Emily Dickinson shows volition through the impression of death, particularly in Dickinson’s poem, “A Soul Selects her Own society,” whereas Whitman expresses volition using different ideas most notably in “Song of Myself.” In the same way, Emerson expresses volition through human beliefs which can be found in his writing, “Self-Reliance,” while Thoreau displays volition through the idea of war and government, especially in his essay “Civil Disobedience.”
Henry David Thoreau uses a lot of comparisons of government in his discussions and writings. In his literary work, “Civil Disobedience,” it says “But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it” (Thoreau 3-4). Thoreau says that government should show respect to the people it is governing or else the government should not govern at all. This indicates the belief he held about how all people in society possess volition and as the people of a certain area, the people must use their volition to stand against something that they don’t believe in. “After all, the practical reason why, when power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule, is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority (Thoreau 4). Thoreau provides an example of what was described earlier. Not everyone is proud to be a part of a movement because they want to be or they feel as if they are helping; they are part of something because the majority of the people are a part of it, and more people ought to consider the true fact that they have volition to make their own decisions. Also, Thoreau compares his outlooks on volition to the Mexican-American War and the slavery that was occurring at the time (he disagrees with both the war and the enslavement of human beings) but he especially disagrees with any notion of partaking in war. War is one of the aspects that Thoreau uses to display volition, especially volition of the people. This defines the margin of his literary works from that of Emerson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings show volition given to humans by God by comparing his ideas to the works and beliefs of modern and ancient man. For example, in Emerson’s writing, “Self-Reliance,” it states, “Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught books and traditions” (Emerson 5). Emerson illustrates these traits by comparing them to history and the accomplishments of man. “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion” (Emerson 10). Volition is prominently expressed in this line of the essay as Emerson says that everyman has a choice, but the one’s choices must not be based on jealousy but upon the way that is understood to be true and right. This is very similar to the way Thoreau displays volition, but Thoreau says that members of society most frequently follows others’ decisions. Emerson also states that every man must make his own decisions, whether they bring better or worse results.
Emily Dickinson portrays volition through death; many examples can be found in her poem, A Soul Selects her Own Society. In this poem, Dickinson discusses how the soul has to make a decision that will have to be kept for the rest of life, “the soul selects her own society—/then shuts the door—/to her divine majority—/present no more—“(Dickinson1-4). This part of the poem displays the idea of volition tremendously, the lines say that the soul has to make a decision, or in a Transcendentalists definition, God gave “her” a decision to make, he gave her the volition going in her own path. “unmoved—she notes the chariots—pausing—/At her low gate—/Unmoved—an emperor be kneeling /Upon her mat” (Dickinson 5-8). This particular stanza in Dickinson’s poem supports the idea of volition, no matter what a person’s status, whether a king or queen, the soul has chosen to do whatever it likes. The rhythms of Dickinson’s poems distinguish them from the rhythms used by Whitman’s. The same rhythm in all of Dickinson’s poems acts as a literary device that makes her poems a bit more interesting and creates a more meaningful tone.
Walt Whitman, however, has no certain tone attributed to his poems, but the rhythm-less scheme doesn’t drain out the meaningful verses. Walt Whitman’s unique style of writing contains a variety of different ideas in one long poem. Walt Whitman’s most famous poem, “Song of Myself,” displays many ideas of volition throughout the poem. “I believe in you my soul, the other I am must abase itself to you, and you must not be abased to the other” (Whitman 82-83). Whitman explains how the soul has volition, and even though every soul has volition, one must not use this great power to subjugate another soul. This is very much different than how Dickinson portrayed volition. Whitman explains that volition is not always something one can take advantage of, and Dickinson says that volition is essential and humans need to use it no matter what. But in the same way, Whitman also, says you must use volition, but not in ways to degrade the others. Whitman uniquely compares the simplest things in life. For example, “ The latest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies, authors, old and new, My dinner, dress associates, looks, compliments, dues” ( Whitman 68-69). Whitman shows that the listed factors can affect your life, and as repeated many times before: it is the decision of the human to make, whether they want these certain aspects of life to affect them in a certain way. Whitman’s writings compare himself and what he believes in to volition many times in his writings, but there are numerous varieties of ways they are showed.
Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson show their ways of portraying volition very differently than each other. But they all seem to be derived from the literary works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Many of the Transcendentalist aspects that are found in the writings of all four of these great writers are based off of different ideas expressing volition. This is what makes each of their literary works unique.