I think I have always had a pretty soft shell, so to speak, hardly
enough lime and grit in it, and at times I am aware that such is
the fact to this day. Well, Emerson found my intellectual shell
very plastic; I took the form of his mould at once, and could not
get away from him; and, what is more, did not want to get away
from him, did not see the need of getting away from him. Nature
herself seemed to speak through him. An intense individuality that
possesses the quality of lovableness is apt to impose itself upon
us in this way. It was under this spell, as you know, that I wrote
"Expression," of which I have told you. The "Atlantic," by the
way, had from the first number been a sort of university to me.
It had done much to stimulate and to shape my literary tastes and
ambitions. I was so eager for it that when I expected it in the
mail I used to run on my way to the post office for it. So, with
fear and trembling, I sent that essay to its editor. Lowell told
a Harvard student who was an old schoolmate of mine that when he
read the paper he thought some young fellow was trying to palm off
an early essay of Emerson's upon him as his own, and that he looked
through the "Dial" and other publications in the expectation of
finding it. Not succeeding in doing so, he concluded the young
man had written it himself.
Pages:
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140