Comments on: Where's this quote from?

Question: Where's this quote from?

The Toad — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:26:10 -0800

"The poet writes the history of his own body". Did Thoreau use this sentence, and if he did, where exactly?

I couldn't find the precise source via Google. Lots of people use it, all of them attribute it to Thoreau, but nobody says where it's from.

The earliest reference I found was in "A study of poetry", by Bliss Perry, 1930, full text here. (Again, no precise source given.)

Can you help, Mefites? Any Thoreau experts around?

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:07:39 -0800

The Journal of Henry D. Thoreau: Volumes I-VII (1837-October 1855)
Sept. 29, 1851: "The poet writes the history of his body."

(Someone around 1920 added "own" and screwed up the quote for the rest of time.)

By: multivalent

multivalent — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:20:53 -0800

Hmmm, I found this which is also from Bliss Perry.

Passage 12 here contains a similar sentiment and is dated 1867. And passage 46 here is also quite close.

I have gone through all the essays on this site and not found it in the essays, I was using a search term on each of the pages. It is still a rich site about his life and works and seemed worth linking to.

So, I give up for now, it's really strange how no-one attributes it, and I can't beat your Bliss Perry date or source. I wonder if it was adapted from the earlier passages I linked to...

I may well keep looking.

Good luck.

By: multivalent

multivalent — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:21:50 -0800

Well done languagehat!

By: The Toad

The Toad — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:24:54 -0800

Wow, that was fast... Thanks!

By: The Michael The

The Michael The — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:12:32 -0800

41 minutes? Languagehat, you're losing your touch!