The early 19th century spawned a new type of thought: transcendentalism. Introduced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, transcendentalists believe man as an individual can become spiritually consumed with nature and himself through experiences within nature. These ideas, however, are a starkly contrasted by Emily Dickinson, who chose to branch off this path. Dickinson believed, unlike Emerson and Thoreau, that a transcendentalist experience could be achieved without extensive natural experiences, but through imagination alone.
Emerson, Thoreau, and Dickinson were all monument…
