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Men admit Thoreau’s genius as a poet, but sometimes forget 
that the true poet is essentially an egotist. In Thoreau’s poet- 
ical essays this egotism is a charm. It is all for humanity. 
His nature worship, reverence for animals, and mysticism lead 
him to find delights in a close study of the Eastern Vedas, 
Sanscrits, and Bible. There he sees the reflex of much of his 
own endeavours. His reverence for all things that have life 
is marked by sincerity—even the rocks have life in his philo- 
sophy, animals are his brethren in a dim sense. They are 
rudimentary men. He had great influence over all animals, 
and endeavoured to teach them to regard himas a friend. His all- 
pervading Pantheism, though it brought him into disrepute in 
religious circles, is not offensive ; it is glorious, devout, deep-set 
in the heart,—a heart so religious and intensely worshipful that 
it is purified by its own fire. The Cosmos to him is indeed 
beautiful, and all things seen and unseen are glorified by his 
poetic soul. His optimism is glorious—he has firm belief in 
the human will. He is content with the purpose for which all 
things are created—the furtherance of good. He teaches that 
all accidents can be turned to good, and that nothing can 
happen more beautiful than death. He stands by the truth as 
by the everlasting hills 
After two years in Walden Hut he considers his education 
complete, and in 1847 he quits the woods. It seemed to him 
that he had “ several more lives to live, and he could not spare 
any more time for that one.” In 1849, he published ‘‘ A week 
on the Concord and Merrimac rivers,” but in four years only 
300 out of 1,000 copies were sold. The subjects treated 
specially are Reading, Friendship, Chaucer, the Vedas, and 
Sanscrits. The Americans revolted from his Pantheism, his 
arrogance, and his idealism. They would rather have preferred 
an essay on ‘‘ How to get money and how to keepit.”” The best 
answer to those who said he was cynical, misanthropic, and 
hard, was the way he threw himself into the anti-slavery agita- 
tion. He was an enthusiastic admirer of John Brown, the 
martyr of the emancipation movement. 
But the end was approaching. In November, 1860, he took a 
severe cold, having exposed himself too much while counting 
rings on trees when there was snow on the eronnd, and his life 
slowly ebbed away. 
In the literary world Thoreau can scarcely be classed ; he is 
unique. His genius is over all his work. 
Inepigram Thoreau is a master, but often presents his truths in 
paradox. He isa paradox, and we expect paradox from him; but 
he is essentially true, and his epigrams are thought-compelling. 
