Henry David Thoreau : Collected Essays and Poems (Library of America) [Hardcover]

Henry David Thoreau (Author), Elizabeth Hall Witherell (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Library of America | Publication Date: April 19, 2001

America's greatest nature writer and a political thinker of worldwide impact, Henry David Thoreau's remarkable essays reflect his speculative and probing cast of mind. In his poems, he gave voice to his private sentiments and spiritual aspirations in the plain style of New England speech. Now, The Library of America brings together these indispensable works in one authoritative volume.

Spanning his entire career, the 27 essays gathered here vary in style from the ambling rhythm of "Natural History of Massachusetts" and "A Winter Walk"to the concentrated moral outrage of "Slavery in Massachusetts" and "A Plea for Captain John Brown." Included are "Civil Disobedience," Thoreau's great exploration of the conflict between individual conscience and state power that continues to influence political thinkers and activists; "Walking," a meditation on wildness and civilization; and "Life Without Principle,"a passionate critique of American materialism and conformity. Also here are literary essays, including pieces on Homer, Chaucer, and Carlyle; the travel essay "A Yankee in Canada"; the three speeches in defense of John Brown; and essays such as "Autumnal Tints," "Wild Fruits," and "Huckleberries" that explore natural phenomena around Concord.

Seven poems are published here for the first time, and others are presented in new, previously unpublished versions based on Thoreau's manuscripts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ah, 'tis In Vain The Peaceful Din
All Things Are Current Found
All Things Decay
Among The Worst Of Men That Ever Lived
And Once Again
Any Fool Can Make A Rule
The Assabet
At Midnight's Hour I Raised My Head
The Atlantides
Away! Away! Away! Away!
Behold These Flowers
Better Wait
Between The Traveller And The Setting Sun
The Bluebirds
The 'book Of Gems'
The Breeze's Invitation
Brother Where Dost Thou Dwell?
But Now 'no War Nor Battle's Sound'
The Chicadee
Cliffs
Cock-crowing
Conscience
The Coward Ever Sings No Song
Death Cannot Come Too Soon
The Deeds Of King And Meanest Hedger
Delay
Delay In Friendship
The Departure
Die And Be Buried Who Will
Each More Melodious Note I Hear
Each Summer Sound
The Earth
The Echo Of The Sabbath Bell - Heard In The Woods
Ep On A Good Man
Ep On The World
Epitaph
Epitaph On Pursy
Epitath On An Engraver
The Evening Wind
Except, Returning, By The Marlboro
Fair Haven (1)
Fair Haven (2)
The Fall Of The Leaf
Far Oer The Bow
Farewell
The Fisher's Son
Fog (2)
For Though The Eaves Were Rabbited
Forever In My Dream And In My Morning Thought
Free Love
The Freshet
The Friend
Friends
Friendship
Friendship (1)
Friendship (2)
The Funeral Bell
Godfrey Of Boulogne
The Good How Can We Trust?
Great Friend
Greater Is The Depth Of Sadness
Greece
Guido's Aurora
Have Ye No Work For A Man To Do
Haze
He Knows No Change Who Knows The True
The Hero
How Little Curious Is Man
I Am Bound, I Am Bound, For A Distant Shore
I Am Contented You Should Stay
I Am The Autumnal Sun
I Am The Little Irish Boy
I Arose Before Light
I Do Not Fear My Thoughts Will Die
I Have Rolled Near Some Other Spirits Path
I Have Some Frozenfaced Connecticut
I Knew A Man By Sight
I Love A Careless Streamlet
I Mark The Summer's Swift Decline
I Sailed Up A River With A Pleasant Wind
I Saw A Delicate Flower Had Grown Up 2 Feet High
I Seek The Present Time
I Was Born Upon Thy Bank River;
I Was Made Erect And Lone
I Will Obey The Strictest Law Of Love
I'm Guided In The Darkest Night
I'm Not Alone
I'm Thankful That My Life Doth Not Deceive
I've Heard My Neighbor's Pump At Night
I've Searched My Faculties Around
I've Seen Ye, Sisters, On The Mountain-side
If Faults Arise, My Friend Will Send For Me
If From Your Price Ye Will Not Swerve
In Adams Fall
In Days Of Yore, Tis Said, The Swimming Alder
In The Busy Streets, Domains Of Trade
In The East Fames Are Won
Independence
Inspiration (2)
Inspiration (4)
The Inward Morning
It Is A Real Place
The Just Made Perfect
Knowledge
Last Night As I Lay Gazing With Shut Eyes
Life
Life Is A Summer's Day
Love
Loves Farewell
Man Man Is The Devil
Manhood
May Morning
Methinks That By A Strict Behavior
The Moon
The Moon Moves Up Her Smooth And Sheeny Path
The Moon Now Rises To Her Absolute Rule
Morning
The Mountains In The Horizon
Music
My Boots
My Friends, My Noble Friends, Know Ye
My Friends, Why Should We Live?
My Ground Is High
My Life
My Prayer
Nature
The Needles Of The Pine
Noon
Not Unconcerned Wachusett Rears His Head
The Offer
The Old Marlborough Road
Old Meeting-house Bell
On Fields Oer Which The Reaper's Hand Has Passed
On Ponkawtasset, Since, We Took Our Way
On Shoulders Whirled In Some Eccentric Orbit
On The Sun Coming Out In The Afternoon
Only The Slave Knows Of The Slave
Our Country
The Peal Of The Bells
Pens To Mend, And Hands To Guide
The Poet's Delay
Poverty
Pray To What Earth Does This Sweet Cold Thing Belong
The Rabbit Leaps
The Respectable Folks
The Rosa Sanguinea
Rumors From An Aeolian Harp
Salmon Brook
The Shrike
Sic Vita
Smoke
Smoke In Winter
Sometimes I Hear The Veery's Clarion
The Soul's Season
Stanzas
Strange That So Many Fickle Gods, As Fickle As The Weather
Such Near Aspects Had We
Such Water Do The Gods Distill
The Summer Rain
Sympathy
Tall Ambrosia
Tell Me Ye Wise Ones If Ye Can
That Phaeton Of Our Day
The Thaw
Then Spend An Age In Whetting Thy Desire
They Who Prepare My Evening Meal Below
Thou Dusky Spirit Of The Wood
'tis Very Fit The Ambrosia Of The Gods
To A Marsh Hawk In Spring
To A Stray Fowl
To Day I Climbed A Handsome Rounded Hill
To Edith
To The Comet
To The Maiden In The East
To The Mountains
Travelling
True Kindness Is A Pure Divine Affinity
Truth -- Goodness -- Beauty -- Those Celestial Thrins
'twas 30 Years Ago
'twill Soon Appear If We But Look
Until At Length The North Winds Blow
The Vireo
Voyagers Song
Wait Not Till I Invite Thee, But Observe
Wait Not Till Slaves Pronounce The Word
Walden
We See The Planet Fall
We Should Not Mind If On Our Ear There Fell
What's The Railroad To Me?
When Breathless Noon Hath Paused On Hill And Vale
When In Some Cove I Lie
When The Toads Begin To Ring
When With Pale Cheek And Sunken Eye I Sang
Where I Have Been
Where'er Thou Sail'st Who Sailed With Me
Who Equallest The Coward's Haste
Who Hears The Parson
Who Sleeps By Day And Walks By Night
Why Toll The Bell Today
Winter Memories
Ye Who Do Command Me To All Virtue Ever
Yet Let Us Thank The Purblind Race
You Boston Folks & Roxbury People
You Must Not Only Aim Aright
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

From the Publisher

Henry David Thoreau crafted essays that reflect his speculative and probing cast of mind. In his poems, he gave voice to his private sentiments and spiritual aspirations in the plain style of New England speech. Now, The Library of America brings together these indispensable works in one authoritative volume. The 27 essays gathered here range over all of Thoreau's concerns, from natural and literary history to the struggle against slavery, and include such masterpieces as "Civil Disobedience," his great exploration of the conflict between individual conscience and state power; "Walking," a meditation on wilderness and civilization; and "Life Without Principle," a passionate critique of American materialism and conformity. The poems collected here, some for the first time, are presented in versions often taken from Thoreau's journal and manuscripts. They reveal him as a poet whose mercurial visions are often expressed with rare precision and immediacy.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 703 pages
• Publisher: Library of America (April 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883011957
• ISBN-13: 978-1883011956
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Original, June 4, 2001

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Henry David Thoreau : Collected Essays and Poems (Library of America) (Hardcover)

....When beginning to read this anthology, I was already familiar with most of his essays but had had only limited exposure to his poems which comprise about a third of this volume’s contents. Thoreau was a man of great intellectual courage while possessing at the same time an uncommon sensitivity to the natural world in which he seemed to be most comfortable. Within the context of American society during the mid-19th century, it is interesting to observe his development of concepts such as civil disobedience which later had such a profound influence on the thinking of public leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. I have always admired the rigor of Thoreau’s intellect which is evident in abundance throughout his published works. While proceeding through this single volume in which most of his essays and his poems are arranged in sequence, I developed a much greater appreciation of (for lack of a better term) his “humanity.” Those who desire a wider and deeper context for consideration of these works are urged to read Walter Harding's The Days of Henry Thoreau as well as Robert D. Richardson’s two biographies, Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind and Emerson: The Mind on Fire.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...could be worth it, March 7, 2002

By 

"publicvoice" (Eugene, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Henry David Thoreau : Collected Essays and Poems (Library of America) (Hardcover)

This is a very fine collection of Essays and Poems but a bit pricey. I have to think that Thoreau would not have approved. Go to the library and paw through some of the essays
to see if you want the ones that you cannot get through another
collection. Frequently "Walking" or "Civil Disobedience" or
"Life Without Principle" are added to small volumes of Walden.
I, of course, shelled out the cash and bought it, but I
sometimes have second thoughts. The paper is quite thin and
I have doubts about it's durablity. If you intend to read this
work several times while underlining and making notes, I would look aroung before buying this specific volume. If you merely want a presentable copy to sit on the shelves and only occasionally consulted, but otherwise dormant-than this is for you.
As a side note, Thoreau demonstrates that some mediums are
better for others. Although a master prose essay writer( I see
"Walden" a a collection of discrete, connected essays) his
poetry isn't so great. This is not uncommon, although a great
prose-poet, Nietzsche's straight poetry is very weak.
Essentially, the material inside this volume is worth your
money. This volume itself may not satisfy your needs though.
Go to a university library, read through the essays, and decide
how important ownership is for you. Thoreau would have approved
of such an investigation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Presently the best single-volume compilation of HDT's essays (not to mention his poems), January 29, 2012

By 

Henry Thoreau (Olathe, KS United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Henry David Thoreau : Collected Essays and Poems (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Another reviewer questioned this edition's durability and price. Regarding this edition's DURABILITY per se, the prospective buyer needn't fret about anything whatsoever [including the paper's (satisfyingly sufficient) thickness and quality]. Regarding its PRICE, however, I indeed agree it's somewhat gallingly excessive [sigh].

Even so, presently this book--to my knowledge--constitutes the best and most comprehensive single-volume compilation of HDT's essays [not to mention his (infinitely less significant) poetry] for the layperson. However, this collection inexplicably omits the essay "Night and Moonlight" [which was the final piece within the 1863 anthology EXCURSIONS], prompting me to scratch my head and exasperatedly blurt, "Will Fortune never come with both hands full?"

Nonetheless, in pursuit of HDT's beloved virtue of "simplicity," consummate Thoreauvians would, arguably, fare best by owning just two (or perhaps three) publications:

(1) this "Library of America" edition of HDT's COLLECTED ESSAYS AND POEMS (ISBN 1883011957);

(2) the "Library of America" single-volume edition of HDT's four full-length books [A WEEK ON THE CONCORD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS; WALDEN; THE MAINE WOODS; and CAPE COD (ISBN 0940450275)]; and perhaps,

(3) HDT's complete (14-volume) JOURNAL (ISBN 0879051736).

With just those three editions [plus, perchance, a printout of the aforementioned "Night and Moonlight"], we've--essentially--got "THE" works of Henry David Thoreau on our shelf.