![]() ![]() This is when he is at his most American, using the famed explorers such as Columbus as examples of how aiming westward is rewarded. He views the march of humanity as ever westward, in search of new soil and vaster skies and forests. The arc of the lecture is circular, starting out with his own personal reasons for walking, then briefly into the original meaning of long walks(pilgrimages),before moving into the meat of the lecture, which is a two pronged > of exploration and Nature. From its length, the lecture must have lasted at least 2 or 3 hours, but then people had more patience in the days before remote controls and microwaves. Though it was repeated a number of times on speaking tours, it was published the year after his death by the Atlantic Monthly magazine, which you can read here. Not so much in Walden, which could’ve been written by any pond in any country, almost, but more so in his less famous works, such as the one we will talk about today, which was first delivered as a lecture in April 1951 at the Concord Lyceum. He embodies that independent spirit that is so stereotypical of our image. ![]() Thoreau is one of America’s quintessential writers. A VL Classic, first posted in July of 2016 ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |