Childhood/Early Career
I was born on May 25, 1803, in Boston. My early life was marked by poverty, frustration, sickness, and death. My father died in 1811, leaving my mother to raise 5 children on her own. One of my younger brothers spent most of his life in mental institutions. Two of my brothers died, one died in 1834 and the other in 1836 of tuberculosis. Until I was 30, I suffered from poor health causing lung disease and temporary periods of blindness. I entered Harvard college in 1817 and graduated in 1821. After I graduated college, I taught school briefly only to return to study theology. In 1826 I was licensed to preach and I was ordained to the Unitarian church in 1829. I later married Ellen Tucker that year. Her death in 1831 caused me great grief.
Influences on Poet
Through my whole life, I saw many deaths which influenced my poetry and writings. I lost my father when I was 8 years old. His death caused my family great grief. Death was hungry for more lives and took my first wife, Ellen, and then my brother. My other brother died a few years later followed by my first son. I seemed to be the only one not to die. Death was not the only thing that influenced me, slavery also had a great impact on me. I advocated for the abolition of slavery, but did accept slavery as a way of understanding life relationship. I continued to lecture across the country throughout the 1860's.
World Events
During my life, the civil war was going on. I was about 58 years old when the Civil war began. During my available time, I traveled across the country lecturing people about slavery, for I was a transcendentalist. I accepted slavery as an idea not as a religious belief, but as a way of understanding life relationship.
I was born on May 25, 1803, in Boston. My early life was marked by poverty, frustration, sickness, and death. My father died in 1811, leaving my mother to raise 5 children on her own. One of my younger brothers spent most of his life in mental institutions. Two of my brothers died, one died in 1834 and the other in 1836 of tuberculosis. Until I was 30, I suffered from poor health causing lung disease and temporary periods of blindness. I entered Harvard college in 1817 and graduated in 1821. After I graduated college, I taught school briefly only to return to study theology. In 1826 I was licensed to preach and I was ordained to the Unitarian church in 1829. I later married Ellen Tucker that year. Her death in 1831 caused me great grief.
Influences on Poet
Through my whole life, I saw many deaths which influenced my poetry and writings. I lost my father when I was 8 years old. His death caused my family great grief. Death was hungry for more lives and took my first wife, Ellen, and then my brother. My other brother died a few years later followed by my first son. I seemed to be the only one not to die. Death was not the only thing that influenced me, slavery also had a great impact on me. I advocated for the abolition of slavery, but did accept slavery as a way of understanding life relationship. I continued to lecture across the country throughout the 1860's.
World Events
During my life, the civil war was going on. I was about 58 years old when the Civil war began. During my available time, I traveled across the country lecturing people about slavery, for I was a transcendentalist. I accepted slavery as an idea not as a religious belief, but as a way of understanding life relationship.