Children of the Fire Summary and Analysis

In Children of the Fire: Chapter 60: The Dream of Community, Emerson pulls himself together for his family and his work. Emerson goes to lecture in New York to make money; he makes many new acquaintances. One of the men Emerson sees in New York, Albert Brisbane, is interested in the French utopian ideas of Charles Fourier; many communes, including Brook Farm, begin to appear in the U.S. For Emerson, especially after Waldo's death, Fourier is too shallow and too optimistic.

In Children of the Fire: Chapter 61: Children of the Fire, Emerson takes over as the editor of "The Dial" when Fuller resigns. He also continues to try to convince friends to move to his neighborhood to create his own commune. Emerson begins his essay "The Poet", which the author considers one of the best...