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Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, A
Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, A, autobiographical narrative by Thoreau, published in 1849. It was written, mainly during the period described in Walden, from earlier journal entries, poems, and essays. The narrative describes seven days in a small boat during a trip (Aug. 31–Sept. 13, 1839), which the author made with his brother John to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. From the description of the homemade dory, which was “painted green below, with a border of blue, with reference to the two elements in which it was to spend its existence,” to the account of New Hampshire people, the book maintains a certain air of romantic adventure, but the travel narrative is subordinated to learned digressions into history, religion, and philosophy; poetry; discussions of literary classics; and such Emersonian essays as the one on friendship. Some of the passages have been frequently quoted, for Thoreau's style was already fully developed, and was said by Lowell to have “an antique purity.” During the author's lifetime, the book was not popular. Later editors, like H.S. Canby, have given it a more compact form by eliminating “indoor additions.”
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, A." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, A." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-WeekonthCncrdndMrrmckRvrs.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, A." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-WeekonthCncrdndMrrmckRvrs.html |
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Concord
Concord river, c.15 mi (24 km) long, NE Mass., a short tributary of the Merrimack, which it joins at Lowell. On Apr. 19, 1775, colonial militia fired some of the first shots of the American Revolution at the British over a bridge across the river at Concord, Mass. Henry David Thoreau 's first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849), records a boat trip with his brother. |
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"Concord." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Concord." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ConcordRiv.html "Concord." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ConcordRiv.html |
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