7. What places of interest in Concord attract visitors? VI, 312, 316, also _Frontispiece_ and illustrations, 310, 338; V, _Frontispiece_, 82; XII, 116. 8. Does this selection offer good material for illustration? Find several scenes especially beautiful in color or shading. 9. What was Hawthorne's view of Emerson? Do you agree with it? Why? FOR REFERENCE "Nathaniel Hawthorne and his Wife."--HAWTHORNE (JULIAN). "Memories of Hawthorne."--LATHROP. "Nathaniel Hawthorne."--FIELDS. "Hawthorne" ("English Men of Letters").--JAMES. "Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne."--STEARNS. "American Prose Masters."--BROWNELL. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT (1794-1878) William Cullen Bryant was born among the Berkshire hills, in Western Massachusetts, the son of a country physician of limited means. He did not complete his college course, and after devoting several years to the practice of law, he removed to New York, where for nearly fifty years he remained as editor of one of the principal metropolitan papers. He took a leading part in all public affairs, and was a most uncompromising abolitionist. In appearance patriarchal, a "grand old man," he was lofty, self-contained, and cold. He died at the age of 83, his mental powers still in full vigor. He was the first poet of high rank which America produced; and above all, the first to paint American scenes with a discerning eye. His poems are American in subject, imagery, and spirit. The volume of his poetry is not large, nor is its range wide, but it is characterized by a dignity and simplicity which imparts a peculiar charm. His "Thanatopsis," written at the remarkably early age of eighteen, was the first poem written on the American continent destined to win enduring fame. His works are almost entirely devoted to nature. Man is generally treated merely in the abstract. In all his verse the tendency to moralize is strongly apparent; but his writings, though instinct with morality and religion, never rise above the teachings of natural theology. THE MAN 1. What were his antecedents? 2. To what extent was he an educated man? 3. What was Bryant's calling? 4. Where did Bryant's political sympathies lie? 5. Was his personal appearance in keeping with his profession? 6. What celebrity of antiquity would you say he most resembled in this respect? 7. For what reason does Bryant lack in popularity? 8. Though his first poem was his greatest, can we say that there was any decline in Bryant's mental powers? 9. Does he belong to the New England authors or to the New York group? Why? STYLE AND WORKS 1. At what age did he write "Thanatopsis"? 2. What unique position does "Thanatopsis" occupy in American literature? 3. Were his literary remains extensive? 4. What pleasing qualities characterize his style? 5. His rank as a poet of nature? 6. For what scenes does Bryant appear to have a special predilection?