Sometimes everyone gets the feeling that they are alone in the world. They are the only ones who can feel true pain, love, anger, happiness, etc. Yet, are they really the only ones who feel and think that way? Quite obviously, they are not. People all experience the same feelings and learn from each other and everything around them. This is the basic idea of transcendentalism. Everyone and everything is connected by intuition, or the Oversoul. The poem "The Snowstorm", by Ralph Waldo Emerson embodies the true meaning of transcendentalism by giving the reader an image of how we are all individuals yet are connected through intuition.

By creating images in "The Snowstorm" Ralph Waldo Emerson reveals many aspects of transcendentalism to the reader. The most evident requirement of transcendentalism present in this piece is the idea of the Oversoul. Emerson uses the snow to represent the Oversoul. Before a snowstorm all the houses, trees, kennels, etc. are separate. After the snowstorm the snow covers everything nothing seems to be standing by itself uncovered. Thus, everything is connected by "The frolic architecture of the snow." The houses, and everything that is uncovered before the storm represents all objects and individuals in the world that seem to be completely separate from each other. The snow represents the intuition that binds us, the Oversoul. Quite clearly the Oversoul is present in this piece.

Besides the Oversoul there are other tenants present in "The Snowstorm." For example there is the reverence of nature. Emerson makes it seem as if the coming of the snow should be exalted when he says that its coming was "Announced by all the trumpets of the sky." Emerson also shows the individuality of humankind in this piece. When he states that "The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet/ Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit/ Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed/ In a tumultuous privacy of storm." These are some of the tenants, found in "The Snowstorm", that allow it to embody the meaning of transcendentalism.

Emerson, clearly, embodies transcendental values in "The Snowstorm." He portrays the Oversoul as the snow and gives the reader a clear image of what his own beliefs are. Emerson helps the reader to grasp the beauty of nature, mans' own individuality and the connection between these two things.