a Reference to the Bible, Ezekiel 37:1—14: “The hand of the Lord was upon me... and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones . . . and, lo, they were very dry... Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord” (King James Version; henceforth, KJV).
b Archaic word that derives from French and means “in spite of.”
c In the 1836 edition Emerson wrote: “Almost I fear to think how glad I am.”
d Inborn; associated in birth or origin.
g From the poem “Man,” by George Herbert (1593-1633); Emerson quotes this poem at length in chapter VIII, “Prospects.”
h Cosmos, or order (Greek).
i The power to mold and shape as a sculptor would clay.
j That is, calyxes: the outermost leaves, or sepals, at the base of a flower.
l For the names of most people and groups of people, see “Glossary of Names” on p. 465.
m English historian Edward Gibbon; the quote is from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776—1788), chapter 68.
n Subordinate; assisting.
o Emotions that may bias the objectivity of “the intellect.”
p The many in one (Italian).
q Device used for distilling; anything that transforms, purifies, or refines.
r Quotation from the Bible, I Corinthians 15:44 (KJV).
s Fundamental; literally, “from the root.”
t The words were written by Emanuel Swedenborg in the New Jerusalem Magazine (July 1832).
u Adapted from Madame de Staël’s De l‘Allemagne (1810; translated to English as Germany in 1813): “Not a mathematical axiom but is a moral rule.”
v From Shakespeare’s Macbeth (act 3, scene 4).
w The words were written by Guillaume Oegger in The True Messiah (1829). Scoria is the slag or refuse left after metal has been smelted from ore.
x Written by the English Quaker George Fox.
y From Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Aids to Reflection (1825).
z Tuition: protection necessary for growth and development. Pretermitted: neglected or omitted.
aa Adapted from the essay “Of Great Place,” by Francis Bacon.
ab Reference to the Bible, Matthew 6:10 and 26:42.
ac Reference to the Bible, Matthew 21:5.
ad Before the Flood; see the Bible, Genesis 6-9.
ae Madame de Staël, in Corinne (1807), book 4, chapter 3. Goethe, in Johann Ecker mann’s Conversations with Goethe in the Last Years of His Life (1839), translated by Margaret Fuller.
af In his “Lecture on the General Character of the Gothic Mind on the Middle Ages” (1836).
ag From the sketch of Michelangelo in Lives of Eminent Persons (1833), published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain).
ah Every truth agrees with every other truth (Latin).
aj Paraphrase of a quotation from Goethe’s The Apprenticeship of Wilhelm Meister (1795-1796) from the translation by Thomas Carlyle.
al lnstruction by example; initiation into. Emerson is using the ecclesiastical meaning of “institution,” which refers to the origination of the sacrament of the Eucharist in its enactment by Christ at the Last Supper.
am Device used for sketching or exhibiting pictures.
an Compare Shakespeare’s Sonnet 98.
ao Near quotation from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 70.
ap Near quotation from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 124.
aq See Shakespeare’s Sonnet 123.
ar From Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (act 4, scene 1).
as From Shakespeare’s The Tempest (act 5, scene 1); the quotations that follow are from the same scene of The Tempest.
at In Greek mythology, the home of the gods.
au Compare the Bible, Proverbs 8:23-30.
av Paraphrase of the Bible, 2 Corinthians 4:18.
aw Reference to the Bible, Exodus 16:3: “And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (KJV).
ax From Michelangelo’s Sonnet 51.
ay Consisting of our experience of it.
ba From John Milton’s Comus (1634), lines 13-14.
bd From Aristotle’s Poetics, section 9.
bf Compare the Bible, Daniel 4:31-33: “Nebuchadnezzar ... was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws“ (KJV).
bg Early term for hypnotism.
bh The two Latin phrases here are terms from medieval scholastic philosophy.
bi reference to the Bible, Psalm 42:7: “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me“ (KJV).
bk Reference to the Bible, Luke 17:20: “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation” (KJV).
bm A version of this fable is given in Plato’s Symposium.
bn Serving to admonish or warn.
bp In political science, the third estate refers to the common people; the second estate, the nobility; and the first estate, the clergy.
bt without the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote.
bu An allusion to silkworms, which feed on mulberry leaves.
bv Reference to the Bible, I Corinthians 15:53: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption“ (KJV).
bw In ancient cosmology, the highest heaven.
bx Rods used for punishing children.
by Savoy is a region in the western Alps.
bz From the Optics (1704) of Sir Isaac Newton.
ca Possibly an allusion to William Wordsworth’s poem “June 1820”: ”Fame tells of groves—from England far away.”
cb A “handsel” is an initial experience of something—a foretaste, or token, of what is to come. Emerson is referring to how truly original thinkers come unannounced and are beyond, or outside, our prior experience.
cd Impression, or signature, made by a signet ring.
ce Variation on the Scottish proverb “Where Macgregor sits, there is the head of the table.”
cg Etna and Vesuvius are volcanoes in Sicily and Italy.
ch From Shakespeare’s Hamlet (act 3, scene 1).
cl A flowering poplar tree, so called for the curative resin associated with Gilead in the Bible, Jeremiah 8:22.
cn Myrrh: an aromatic resin used in perfume and incense—it was one of the gifts given to the infant Jesus by the three wise men. Storax: an aromatic resin. Chlorine: a greenish-yellow gas used for purifying. Rosemary: an aromatic evergreen herb used in cooking and in perfume.
co A literature to be studied, a story to be told rather than a religion to be lived out in one’s daily life.
cp from William Wordsworth’s sonnet “The World Is Too Much with Us” (1807).
cq Of contemporaneous origin.
cr Compare the Bible, Matthew 19:28-29: ”... And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (KJV).
cs Archaeological remnants of the religions central to Egyptian and Indian culture.
cv That is, a rigid hierarchy, as in the Roman Catholic Church.
cw The symbol of mercantile interests in Boston, as Wall Street is the symbol of financial interests in New York.
cx Whole or ground hulled corn from which the bran and germ have been removed, used to make grits.
cy Coastal vessel trading in hides; the master of such a vessel.
cz Place for keeping military stores, weapons, ammunition, provisions, etc.
da Writer of dictionaries.
dc Member of a religious order living in community, as in a convent or monastery.
dd The great circle formed by the intersection of the plane of Earth’s orbit with the celestial sphere; the apparent annual path of the sun in the heavens.
de Lacedaemon was another name for the Greek city-state Sparta.
df Candy containing a nut or pieces of fruit, often offered to guests.
dg Selah: term that appears regularly in the biblical book of Psalms, thought to indicate a change in intonation, or a pause. Amen: Hebrew term meaning “it is so; so be it.”
dh Reference to Derar Ebn Alazar, which Emerson took from Simon Ockley, The History of the Saracens, third edition (1757). The description below of the Caliph Omar is also taken from Ockley.
di From Treatise of Synesius on Providence, translated by Thomas Taylor and printed with his Select Works of Plotinus (1817).
dj Emerson notes in his journals that the translation from the Arabic was by Goethe; the English version is apparently Emerson’s translation from the German.
dk From the quarry in Quincy, Massachusetts, south of Boston.
dl Gold coin of the United States valued at $10.
dm Belief that one is exempt from the laws of church or state because one has received grace and therefore obeys the higher laws of God.
dn Emerson quotes, somewhat inaccurately, from Shakespeare’s Othello (act 5, scene 2). Emilia’s words follow Othello’s admission of guilt.
do Reference to the Bible, 1 Samuel 21.
dp Reference to the Bible, Matthew 12:1.
dq coleridge’s translation (author’s note).
dr This unattributed quotation occurs frequently in Emerson’s letters and journals. ∥Unrestrained celebration.
ds In the sense of terrific, awe-inspiring.
dt The selling of fake or ineffective medicines.
du Ballroom for formal dances.
dv From Pericles and Aspasia (1836), by Walter Savage Landor.
dw Reference to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 12:2: “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven” (KJV).
dy “Until his hour comes again” is a phrase used frequently by Saint John in his gospel and epistles.
dz Reference to the Bible, John 18:37: “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth” (KJV).
ea Allusion to the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred wooden chest of the Hebrews representative of God’s bond with his chosen people; see the Bible, Exodus 25:10—22.
eb Instruments used in early scientific experiments with electricity.
ec Vessel that carries mail and passengers on a regular route.
ed Do not search outside yourself (Latin), from Persius’s Satire 1.7.
ee Infant; “bantling” often refers to orphaned or abandoned children. These verses are Emerson’s own.
ef Capable of being molded into new forms.
eg Waters of forgetfulness. In Greek mythology, Lethe is a river in the underworld; all who die drink its water, which makes them forget their actions while alive.
eh Business in which capital is held by the owners in transferable shares.
ej Island in the Caribbean where slavery was abolished in 1834.
ek See the Bible, Matthew 19:28—29, 10:35. Compare with “The Divinity School Address”: “Where shall I hear words such as in elder ages drew men to leave all and follow, —father and mother, house and land, wife and child?” (p. 75).
el The outdated medical practice of bloodletting.
em Parlor game in which a blindfolded player tries to catch and identify other players.
en Alexander Pope’s “Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot” (1735), line 212.
eo Compare the Bible, Genesis 39.
ep Mountain ranges in South America and Asia, respectively.
eq Series of lines or verse in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word or phrase.
er Gazettes printed public announcements, including lists of businesses that had gone bankrupt and of officers who had resigned or been dismissed from their posts. Compare with Emerson’s use of the word in “Power,” p. 401.
et Apparent displacement of an object due to a change in the position of the observer; Emerson seems to mean “without a position from which it can be observed.” ‡In this sense, knowledge that is paid for.
eu The Bible, Exodus 3:5: “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (KJV).
ev Near quotation from John Fletcher’s Bonduca (1614; act 3, scene 1 ).
ew From The Chaldean Oracles.
ex Paraphrase of the Bible, Exodus 20:19.
ey Enclosure for sheep or cattle.
ez Thebes: ancient city in Upper Egypt, on the Nile. Palmyra: ancient city in central Syria.
fa Doric and Gothic are architectural styles based on ancient Greek and medieval European structures, respectively.
fb That is, the building of the pyramids of Giza.
fc From Mémorial de Sainte Hélène: Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of the Emperor Napoleon at Saint Helena (1823), which records Las Cases’s conversations with Napoleon during his exile at Saint Helena.
fd From Simon Ockley’s The History of the Saracens (1718).
fe In Essays: First Series, the following chapter is “Spiritual Laws,” which is included in this edition.
fg Emerson’s source for this well-known Latin saying (translated in the preceding sentence) is The Poetical Writings of Alexander Pope, 9 vols. (London, 1760). It occurs in a letter from Jonathan Swift to Lord Bolingbroke, dated April 5, 1729. See the discussion in The Collected Works.
fh Comprehensive summary.
fi Paraphrase from the Bible, John 1:10: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (KJV).
fj Well-known fragment of Sophocles. According to the editors of The Collected Works, Emerson’s translation is colloquial, and possibly his own.
fk Compare Horace’s Epistles, I, x, 24.
fl Saint Augustine, Confessions, B. [book] 1 (author’s note).
fm From Aeschylus’s Eumenides.
fn Compare Plutarch’s Moralia, “On Exile,” 11; see also p. 91.
fo Compare Sophocles’ Ajax, lines 1029-1034.
fp Emerson’s source for this anecdote is Thomas Brown’s Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind, 4 vols. (Edinburgh, 1820).
fq Emerson’s source for this quotation is James Prior’s Memoir of the Life and Character of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke (London, 1824).
fr From “Eschines and Phocion,” by Walter Savage Landor.
fs William Wordsworth’s sonnet “September 1802. Near Dover,” lines 10—12.
ft Emerson is referring to Aesop’s fable “The Stag at the Pool.”
fv The islands of Hawaii were formerly called the Sandwich Islands.
fw Compare The Meditations of St. Augustine... with Select Contemplations from St. Anselm and St. Bernard, translated by George Stanhope (London, 1818).
fy That is, the banyan, a large, spreading tree.
fz From William Wordsworth’s poem “Alas! What Boots the Long Laborius Quest” (1809): “And may not we with sorrow say—/ A few strong instincts and a few plain rules, / Among the herdsmen of the Alps, have wrought / More for mankind at this unhappy day / Then all the pride of intellect and thought?”
ga Emerson takes the comparison of Timoleon’s victories with Homer’s verses from Plutarch’s Lives.
gb “Crump” was a common name for a member of the middle class.
gc Reference to the Bible, Psalms 115:1: “Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” (KJV). ‡Direct electrical current.
ge tPhilosophy of skepticism, named after the Greek philosopher Pyrrho (c.360-270 B.C.), who maintained that nothing could be known with certainty. ‡A marplot frustrates or ruins a plan.
gf Breath, spirit; an aperture for breathing.
gh Secret society or brotherhood. ‡From Mémorial de Sainte Hélène (1823), by Comte Emmanuel de Las Cases; see note on p. 134.
gi Emerson takes this quotation from Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander.”
gj reference to the Bible, Luke 24:16: “But their eyes were holden that they should not know him” (KJV).
gk Reference to William Wordsworth’s poem “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” (1807; line 77): “Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own.”
gl Tempe: beautiful valley in ancient Thessaly; Tivoli: pleasure resort near Rome. ||Peasant; ill-mannered person.
gm Pattern in which four trees are planted in a square with a fifth tree in the middle of the square.
gn Arrangement of letters that reads the same way forward and backward, up and down, and along the diagonal.
go Polynesian language spoken in the Caroline islands of the western Pacific.
gp From Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella (1591), sonnet 1, line 14.
gq Horace Walpole’s A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England (1758) lists numerous books that are now unheard of.
gr From James Henry Monk’s The Life of Richard Bentley (1833), vol. 1, p. 116.
gs From Thomas Roscoe, “The Life of Michael Angelo Buonaroti,” in Lives of Eminent Persons (London, 1833), p. 72.
gt This passage is from the Bible, Proverbs 8:1.
gu The anecdote is taken from The Apocalypse Revealed (Boston, 1836).
gv From Analects, II, x, 4.
gw Reference to the Bible, Exodus 3:14: “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (KJV).
gx Compare Byron’s poem The Island, canto 3, stanza 5; Emerson mistakenly conflates two characters, Jack Skyscrape and Ben Bunting.
gy Instruments used to measure the intensity of light.
gz Reference to the Bible, Proverbs 14:10: “The heart knoweth his own bitterness” (KJV).
ha From John Milton’s Comus (1634; line 47).
hb In ancient Greek and Roman culture, Elysium was the name given to the dwelling place of happy souls in the afterlife.
hc Near quotation from Shakespeare’s sonnet 25, lines 9-12; Emerson substitutes “valiant” for “painful”
hd emerson borrows from Goethe this German term that refers to the long, slow processes of evolution.
he Probably the poet Jones Very ( 1813-1880); Emerson edited Very’s Essays and Poems (1839).
hf Michel de Montaigne, from his essay “A Consideration upon Cicero”: Montaigne’s essay “On Friendship” is also worth comparing.
hg Person who does sloppy work.
hh Two-wheeled chaise drawn by horses.
hi Compare the following line from Pharsalia, by Lucan: Facinus, quos inquinat, aequat (Crime levels those whom it pollutes).
hk After the Roman god Janus, god of beginnings, who was often represented as having two faces because he looked to both the future and the past.
hl “Psychozia, or the Life of the Soul,” in Philosophical Poems (1647), canto II, stanza 19.
hm From Cain (act 1, scene 1, lines 536-537), by George Gordon, Lord Byron.
hn Religious dress of a person on pilgrimage; veil or other garments worn to signify mourning.
ho Turkish term for a leader placed in charge of conquered territory.
hp Roland is the hero of the French epic poem Chanson de Roland (eleventh or twelfth century); Oliver was Roland’s friend and brother in arms. Their characters stood in contrast: Roland acted on impulse; Oliver was prudent.
hq The editors of The Collected Works identify this quotation as a paraphrase by Caleb Reed that appeared in “The Nature and Character of True Wisdom and intelligence,” New Jerusalem Magazine 3 (January 1830).
hr From Thomas Gray’s “Progress of Poesy” (1757; line 101).
hs Church founded on the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg.
hw Each of these rulers was considered a patron of the arts.
hx From Aeropagitica (1644; paragraph 4).
hy Reference to the Bible, Matthew 6:6: “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (KJV).
hz Possibly a line from Plotinus’s “On Beauty.”
ia Term given to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, in the Bible, Acts 2.
ib Canopy, as over a bed.
ic Of or belonging to the present day.
id That is, we study ancient culture and history (Greek, Punic, Roman) in order to better understand our own via the contrast.
ie Near quotation from the Bible, I Corinthians 15:28.
if From Edward Young’s Night Thoughts, ix, lines 2316-2317. The first line should read “His crimes forgive, forgive his virtues too.”
ig Philosophy of skepticism, named after the Greek philosopher Pyrrho (c.360-270 B.C.), who maintained that nothing could be known with certainty.
ih Quotation from the Bible, I Peter 2:5: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house” (KJV).
ij from Coleridge’s The Statesman’s Manual (1816; paragraph 18).
ik This second passage of verse is taken from Emerson’s poem “Ode to Beauty.”
im In medieval physiology, the bodily humor thought to cause sluggishness, indifference, or apathy.
in Energy directed to a point.
io In the older sense of teacher.
ip In the sense of casuist, a person who studies and resolves cases of conscience or difficult questions regarding duty or moral obligation. ‡Inactive volcano in central Ecuador; the phrase “under the line” refers to its location on the equator.
ir “An Hymne in Honour of Beautie” (1594; stanza 19).
is ased on knowledge gathered via the five senses; the opposite of spiritual.
it From The Commentaries of Proclus on the Timaeus of Plato, translated by Thomas Taylor, 2 vols. (London, 1820).
iu William Pitt, lst earl of Chatham, was said to have read Nathaniel Bailey’s Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1721) from cover to cover.
iv String of beads or shells used by some Native American tribes as currency.
iw Quality of being fleeting or transitory.
ix Family of fungus that includes mushrooms.
iy Another, but the same (Latin).
iz From The Chaldean Oracles, attributed to Zoroaster.
ja Compare Milton’s sixth Latin Elegy.
jb Compare Plato’s Charmides, section 157, and Timaeus 31 and 77.
jc see the “Epistle Dedicatory” of Chapman’s translation of the Iliad, lines 132-133. ‡Emerson’s source for this and the previous quotation attributed to Orpheus is Thomas Taylor’s translation of The Six Books of Proclus ( 1816).
jd In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” lines 1132-1145.
je Reference to the Bible, Revelations 6:13: “And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind” (KJV).
jf The “vision” is reported in Swedenborg’s book The Apocalypse Revealed (Boston, 1836).
jg Troy: city in Asia Minor besieged by the Greeks in the Trojan War; temple of Delphos: home of the oracle, or prophetess, of Delphi.
jh List of important political issues during the 1840s.
ji Ethereal fluid flowing in the veins of gods.
jj Scooped up, as with a bucket.
jk Waters of forgetfulness. In Greek mythology, Lethe is a river in the underworld; all who die drink its water, which makes them forget their actions while alive. See the parable of Er at the conclusion of Plato’s Republic.
jl From Lucian’s comedy Podagra, but Emerson takes it from Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy (I, 2, iii, 10).
jm Dropping off early, as leaves; transitory.
jn Emerson takes this story from Robert Southey’s The Curse of Kehama (1810), part 2, section 14.
jo Early type of raincoat.
jp Crystalline rock found in the Labrador region of Canada.
jq Brook Farm, the commune in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, founded by George Ripley and other transcendentalists.
jr From the Desatir (1818), ancient scriptures attributed to Zoroaster.
js Indigestion; irritability.
ju Compare Shakespeare’s The Tempest (act 4, scene 1 ): “We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep.”
jv Reference to the Bible, Luke 17:20: “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation” (KJV).
jw Of the same age or duration.
jx Translation by seventeenth-century physician Samuel White of lines 455-457 of the ancient Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles.
jz Possibly taken from Sir Walter Scott’s The Life of Napoleon Buonoparte (1827).
ka Kepler discovered that Mars is in an elliptical orbit around the sun.
kb Compare Plato’s Phaedrus, Adrastia is the goddess of justice or retribution.
kd Possibly an error for “protest” or an obscure form of “partake”—taking part in; participation.
ke Compare the Bible, Genesis 28-31.
kf From Plutarch’s “Symposiacs,” in Morals, book 8.
kg Penal colony in New South Wales, Australia.
kh Probably Alexis de Tocqueville, whose Democracy in America (1835-1840) Emerson had read as early as 1841.
kj Myrrh and frankincense are resinous oils used in perfumes and incense; gold, frankincense, and myrrh were the three gifts the Magi brought to the infant Jesus. ‡The Annual Register and the Conversations’ Lexicon were contemporary encyclopedias.
kk Possibly Bronson Alcott or George Ripley, who formed utopian communities at Fruitlands and Brook Farm, respectively.
kl Phosphorescent light seen hovering or flitting over marshy ground; another name for “will-of-the-wisp.”
kn That is, deeds that took “nerve”; strong and courageous deeds.
ko Ancient Greek religious ceremonies associated with the gods Demeter and Dionysius.
kp Emerson heard this oratorio performed in Boston on Christmas Day, 1843.
kq Subordinates; lesser authorities.
kr See Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream (act 1, scene 2).
ks That resolves matters; see p. 216 for a similar use of this word.
kt Stubble left in a field after harvest.
ku Both poisonous and medicinal substances are derived from plants of the genus Helleborus.
kv Paine’s Age of Reason (in 2 parts, 1794 and 1795) dismissed the Bible as mythology and promoted a deistic, rational view of the universe as the basis for civil society.
kw Point in the orbit of a planet when it is farthest from the sun.
kx From the poem “The Paint King,” by Washington Allston.
ky The editors of The Collected Works point out that in his Journals Emerson regularly referred to Faust, Part II, as “Helena,” the title Goethe used when he published the Helen of Troy episode separately in 1827.
kz Compare the Bible, Luke 18:22-28: “... sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.... Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee” (KJV).
la the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred wooden chest of the Hebrews representative of God’s bond with his chosen people; see the Bible, Exodus 25:10-22.
lb Time limit placed on speeches in debate.
lc Some scholars suppose that these two philosophers are Charles Lane and Bronson Alcott, who repeatedly tried to persuade Emerson to join them in their efforts to establish a utopian community.
ld Valencia is a fertile region in Spain; the Sacramento River in California was one of the main sites where gold was mined during the gold rush of 1849.
le Another name for the religion of Islam.
lf Ancient city in Upper Egypt, on the Nile.
lg From small means, great effect (French); from George Sand’s novel Le Compagnon du Tour de France (1843).
lh Conceited or pretentious person.
li Reference to God’s comment on his creation; see the Bible, Genesis 1.
lj The source for this quotation has not been identified.
lk In his History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England (1702-1704).
ll From “The Works of Mencius,” in The Chinese Classical Work Commonly Called the Four Books (1828).
lm Plato’s Republic, book 7, chapter 16.
ln From the poem “Dædalus,” by John Sterling.
lo Reference to Honoré Balzac’s novel La Peau de Chagrin (1831). The plot involves a magic blanket made of animal hide that shrinks each time a wish is granted; when it disappears completely its owner dies.
lp List of powerful military leaders who engaged in the conquest of neighboring nation-states.
lq Drug that induces forgetfulness.
ls Reference to microscopic organisms that reproduce through division.
lt Derogatory term for those of Irish descent.
lu Legendary birds that burst into flames when they die and are reborn from their own ashes.
lv Successive improvement.
lw Omar supposedly made this comment when he gave the order to burn the libraries at Alexandria.
lx Legend suggests that Plato’s Timaeus was plagiarized from Philolaus.
ly Republic, 503B (book VI, chapter 15).
ma The Vedas, the Bhagavat Geeta, and the Vishnu Purana are sacred texts of Hinduism.
mb The preceeding quotations are a conflation of a number of passages taken from the Vishnu Purana.
mc In Greek mythology, the place below Hades, where Zeus imprisoned the Titans.
md From Timaeus, 29 E-30, A.
me From Thomas Taylor’s The Six Books of Proclus (1816).
mg Bones in the wings of birds.
mh From Thomas Taylor’s “General Introduction” to The Works of Plato (1804).
mi Compare the fable of Er at the conclusion of the Republic.
mj Compare Edmund Spenser, The Fairie Queene, book 3, canto 11, stanzas 50-54.
mk Compare Theaetetus, 148E-151E, and Gorgias, 464B-466A.
ml From Thomas Taylor’s The Works of Plato (1804).
mm From Gorgias, 526 D-E.
mn Mythical utopian kingdom mentioned by Plato in Timaeus and Critias.
mo See Phaedrus, 249 B-C.
mp Republic, 450 B (book 5, chapter 2).
ms Emerson takes the quotation from the Koran, as well as the discussion of caste and the comparison with Plato, from Practical Philosophy of the Muhammadan People ... the Akhlak-i-jalay.
mt Compare Republic, book 4, chapters 15 and 16.
mv Compare Republic (book 6, chapters 20 and 21).
mx Alternate title for Plato’s Symposium.
mz Another name for the electric eel.
nc Karnac: an Egyptian village along the central Nile, site of the ancient city of Thebes. Etruria: an ancient civilization located in the Tuscany region of Italy.
nd Common expression for an impossible task.
ne English magazine known for its satirical cartoons.
nf This idea is expressed in Madame de Staël’s Influence of Literature upon Society (published as part of De la littérature considérée dans ses rapports avec les institutions sociales (1800); Emerson would probably have read the translation published in Boston in 1813.
ng From John Milton’s “Il Penseroso” (c.1632), lines 99-100.
nh Fortune-teller, after the oracle at Delphi.
ni Shakespeare is known to have used Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives, which was itself a translation from the French of Jacques Amyot.
nj See Jonson’s poems “To the Reader” and “To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author Mr. William Shakespeare: and What He Hath Left Us.”
nk From Shakespeare’s Hamlet (act 1, scene 4).
nl From Shakespeare’s Othello (act 1, scene 3).
nn Emerson misattributes this statement to Epicurus. Plutarch in his Morals takes the idea from Xenophon. See the discussion in The Collected Works, vol. 4, p. 229.
no From The Gulistan, translated by James Ross (1823).
np From Practical Philosophy of the Muhammadan People... the Akhlak-i-Jalay.
nq Compare Emanuel Swedenborg’s The Animal Kingdom, part 1, chapter 4, sect. 100-101.
nr See the Koran, sura X, verse 47.
ns Friar of the order of St. Francis.
nt Théodore Jean Joseph, baron Séruzier (1757-1821), Mémoires militaries du B. Séruzier, colonel d‘artillerie légère (1823).
nu As I quote at second hand, and cannot procure Seruzier, I dare not adopt the high figure I find (author’s note). Emerson got his secondhand information on this “sketch” from Edward Bangs (The Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 4, pp. 168-170; see “For Further Reading”); the “high figure” he refused to adopt, 15,000, was an exaggeration.
nv Foremost museum of art in Paris.
nw The royal palace in Paris.
nx Working-class neighborhoods on the outskirts of Paris.
ny Napoleon was referring to Ney’s brilliant defensive maneuvers while commanding the rear guard during the retreat from Moscow in 1812.
nz Corrupt behavior by one in a position of trust.
oa Napoleon failed to capture this city (formerly known as Ptolemais) on the coast of Palestine after a siege of ninety-one days.
ob Alternate spelling for Muhammad.
od Brilliant performance.
oe Another name for the electric eel.
of Social reformer Charles Fourier proposed peaceful means to reform instead of revolution.
og The first volumes of the Works of John Adams (1850-1856), 10 vols., edited by Charles Francis Adams, had just been published (see p. 12).
oh April 19 commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolution. June 17 commemorates the Battle of Bunker Hill, another important battle of the Revolution fought in Boston. July 4 is Independence Day.
oi Iron tubes used to reinforce railway bridges or other structures.
oj Supporters of the bill fired a one-hundred-gun salute on the Boston Common to celebrate its passage.
ok Of sound mind (Latin); a legal term.
ol Safeguard; after the legend of the statue of Pallas Athena in the city of Troy: So long as the statue was intact, the city would be safe.
om Sophocles’ Electra, II, 626—627.
on Federal law that effectively ended the African slave trade by prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States after January 1, 1808.
op Surrounding the passage of legislation that came to be known as the Missouri Compromise (1820-1821).
oq Tear-drop-shaped glass ornament that can shatter easily.
or The African nation of Liberia was founded in 1821 with funds from the American Colonization Society; a number of reformers suggested black emigration to Liberia as a possible solution to conflicts over emancipation.
os Region in Greece that was ruled by the Athenians.
ot Region surrounding Jerusalem where the Hebraic culture of the Old Testament developed.
ou Cape Cod is a peninsula in eastern Massachusetts; the Berkshires are a mountain range in western Massachusetts.
ov Prophecies of future events.
ow Emerson’s source is a German anthology of Persian poetry, Geshichte der schönen Redekunste Persiens. In his journals (Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks, vol. 11, p. 103), he ascribes it to “Pindar of Rei in Cuhistan.” The version given here is Emerson’s translation from the German.
ox Allusion to the Calvinistic belief in predestination which held that persons were either saved (the “elect”) or damned (the “preterite”) from birth.
oz From Aeschylus’s The Suppliants, lines 1047—1049.
pa Both believed that God would provide even the most basic needs for those who believed in his saving grace.
pb The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 was notorious for the devastation it caused. The earthquake at Naples occurred on December 17, 1857.
pe In ancient and medieval physiology, the body was said to contain four primary fluids, or humors—blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy—that were thought to determine personality, or temperament.
pf Coarse linen or cotton cloth used for toweling.
pg An allusion to the Bible, Matthew 5:28:“... whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (KJV).
pi The source for this quotation about the Hindu concept of karma has not been identified.
pj Unidentified quotation.
pk Type of scale invented by Henry Dearborn.
pl Small sac filled with fluid.
pm Dung of bats or seabirds, used for fertilizer.
pn Everything which pertains to the human species, considered as a whole, belongs to the order of physical facts. The greater the number of individuals, the more does the influence of the individual disappear, leaving predominance to a series of general facts dependent on causes by which society exists, and is preserved.—Quetelet. (author’s note).
pp Cowries: common tropical marine mollusks; orangia: a tropical seashell of rare beauty.
pq English magazine known for its satirical cartoons.
pr These quotations from “the Greeks,” “the Welsh triad,” and “the bard of Spain” have not been identified.
ps Having all four feet adapted as hands, as in nonhuman primates.
pu Storehouses for ammunition.
pv To join together by openings at the ends, as in veins and arteries.
pw Each person undergoes his special penalty (Latin), from Virgil’s Aeneid 6, 743.
px “The House of Fame,” lines 43-51.
py Allusion to the Bible, Matthew 7:7: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (KJV).
pz See the epigraph to the second part of Goethe’s memoir Poetry and Truth.
qa From Swedenborg’s The Animal Kingdom, translated by James Garth Wilkinson, 2 vols. (Boston, 1843-1844).
qc Term used for the common people in ancient Greek city-states, such as Athens.
qd According to Edward W. Emerson, this “western lawyer” was Judge Halmer Hull Evans (1815-1877).
qe Nicknames often used in political editorials for residents of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, respectively.
qf Both Thomas Hart Benton and John C. Calhoun opposed President James K. Polk’s war policy during the Mexican War (1846-1848), which led to the annexation of Texas, New Mexico, and California.
qg New Harmony was a commune established on the Wabash River in Indiana. Brook Farm was a commune in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, founded by George Ripley and other transcendentalists. Zoar was another utopian community founded in Ohio by German separatists.
qi French political parties prominent during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.
qj Volcanic area or vent that appears in the late stages of volcanic activity.
qk The Pelasgians were an ancient people of Greece. Pericles commissioned the Greek sculptor Phidias (fifth century) to construct the Parthenon. The city of Corinth was famous for its elegance and luxury during the height of ancient Greek civilization.
ql Emerson knew of these anecdotes of Michelangelo from Lives of the Most Eminent Painters and Sculptors, by Giorgio Vasari ( 1511-1574).
qm The painter is possibly Washington Allston; Emerson quotes his poem “The Paint King” in the essay “Nominalist and Realist” (see p. 275).
qo From Thomas Stanley’s History of the Chaldaick Philosophy (1701).
qp Emerson took this anecdote from Reflections on the Politics of Ancient Greece, by German historian Arnold H. L. Heeren (1760-1842), translated by George Bancroft ( 1824).
qq To be published as bankrupt.
qr The direct electrical current generated by a battery.
qt “Culture” and “Worship” are the titles of essays that immediately follow “Power” in The Conduct of Life.
qv In July 1850 Emerson visited Mammoth Cave in Kentucky while on a lecture tour.
qw In Greek mythology, Lethe and Styx are rivers in the underworld of Hades. ‡A kind of firework.
qx The hazy condition of things is upsetting because it makes us see things as they are (French).
qy Serenade of raucous music performed in mockery.
qz Type of colored glass used by landscape painters to view a scene in subdued tones.
ra Side-scenes or wings of a theatrical stage.
rb Allusion to astrology; Mizar and Alcor are two of the seven fixed stars in the constellation Ursa Major.
rc From the Vishnu Purana, translated by H. H. Wilson (London, 1840), p. 585.
rd From Practical Philosophy of the Muhammudan People, translated by W. F. Thomp son (London, 1839), p. 95.
re Island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.
rf To the extreme (French).
rg Compare H. D. Thoreau’s “Conclusion” to Walden.
rh Emerson’s source for these quotations has not been located; he may simply be reporting Thoreau’s conversation.
ri In his journals, Emerson records Elizabeth Hoar as saying, “I love Henry, but do not like him.” Hoar (1814-1878), daughter of Concord lawyer Samuel Hoar, was engaged to marry Emerson’s younger brother Charles, who died of tuberculosis before they could be wed; she remained a close friend of the Emerson family. The second quotation is Emerson’s comment.
rj In fact, the year was 1846; the friend who paid the tax has been variously identified.
rk Most likely a reference to the expedition led by Charles Wilkes.
rl Boston boardinghouse run on the dietary system of Sylvester Graham.
rm Medicinal plant used to treat sprains and bruises.
rn Thoreau recorded his observations of the Concord River in his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849).
rp South American water-lily.
rq Plant known as the bogbean or buckbean.
rr Flower known as the lady’s slipper.
rs Phrase from George Herbert’s poem “Vertue,” line 6.
ru From the chapter “Economy” in Walden.
rv This and the following quotation are from Thoreau’s poem “Inspiration,” but
Emerson quotes the passages excerpted in the “Friday” and “Monday” chapters of A
Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.
rw Emerson’s source for this quotation has not been identified.
rx Learned, or scholarly ones (French).
rz Climbing vine known as climbing hempweed.
sc The dome of Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Rome was designed by Michelangelo.
sd The temple of the goddess Athena built on the Acropolis at Athens was designed by
Phidias.
se Mountains in western South America and eastern Turkey, respectively.
sf White marble found on the island of Paros in the Aegean sea, and favored by ancient Greek sculptors.
sh Another name for the rhododendron, a flowering bush common to New England.
si Cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus; in Greek mythology, they represent the
six daughters of Atlas.
sj The Persian poet Saadi.
sk The island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.
sl List of landowners who lived in Concord.
sm The sixth-century Welsh poet Myrddin, rather than the magician of Arthurian
legend.
sn First pair of leaves produced by a flowering plant.
sr Extra profit or gain enjoyed as a perquisite.
ss Person who seeks favor by flattery.