SOURCE: “Structure in the Poetry of Thoreau,” in Costerus, Vol. 6, 1972, pp. 137-54.

In the following essay, Sampson argues that much of Thoreau's poetry has the structure reminiscent of the meditative tradition of seventeenth-century poetry.

I

Thoreau's reputation as a major American writer has not depended upon his poetry. Although Emerson, in an article on “New Poetry” in The Dial for October 1840, recognized him as an important writer, he classified Thoreau as a “portfolio” poet whose greatness lay in the future; and later Emerson advised him to burn his poetry. Eighty-one years passed from the time of Thoreau's death until a collected edition of his poetry appeared. And in spite of the general availability of the poems in Carl Bode's 1943 edition and then in the 1964 enlarged edition, little serious attention has been given to these works.

Nor has critical evaluation of his poetry varied much over the decades. Bartholow...