American Men of Letters
HENRY D. THOREAU
American Men of Letters.
HENRY D. THOREAU.
BY
F. B. SANBORN.
REVISED EDITION.
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
Copyright, 1882,
By F. B. SANBORN.
All rights reserved.
Morose who name thee, cynical to men,
Forsaking manners civil and refined
To build thyself in Walden woods a den,—
Then flout society, flatter the rude hind.
We better knew thee, loyal citizen!
Thou, friendship's all-adventuring pioneer,
Civility itself wouldst civilize:
Whilst braggart boors, wavering 'twixt rage and fear,
Slave hearths lay waste, and Indian huts surprise,
And swift the Martyr's gibbet would uprear:
Thou hail'dst him great whose valorous emprise
Orion's blazing belt dimmed in the sky,—
Then bowed thy unrepining head to die.
Concord, January, 1882.
PREFACE
When, in 1879, I was asked by my friendCharles Dudley Warner to write the biographyof Thoreau which follows, I was byno means unprepared. I had known thisman of genius for the last seven years of histoo short life; had lived in his family, andin the house of his neighbor across the way,Ellery Channing, his most intimate friendoutside of that family; and had assistedChanning in the preparation and publicationof his "Thoreau, the Poet-Naturalist,"—thefirst full biography which appeared. Notvery long after Thoreau's death Channinghad written me these sentences, with that insightof the future which he often displayed:
"That justice can be done to our deceasedbrother by me, of course I do not think. But toyou and to me is intrusted the care of his immediatefame. I feel that my part is not yet done,and cannot be without your aid. My little sketchmust only serve as a note and advertisement that[Pg viii]