Sir Walter Raleigh (essay) facts for kids
Sir Walter Raleigh is an essay written by Henry David Thoreau. It was put together from notes he took for a lecture in 1843 and early drafts of an article he was writing for a magazine called The Dial.
This essay was first published much later, in 1950. It appeared in a collection of Thoreau's writings that was put together by Henry Aiken Metcalf. Another version of the essay, which is quite different, can be found in a book called Henry D. Thoreau: Early Essays and Miscellanies.
Contents
How the Essay Was Created
When Henry Aiken Metcalf prepared the first published version of Sir Walter Raleigh, he used three different drafts of the essay. He even thought there might be a fourth draft that hadn't been found yet.
Later, when other experts looked at Thoreau's original handwritten notes, they found some differences in Metcalf's version. They noted that Metcalf sometimes misread Thoreau's handwriting. He also left out some words or phrases and added parts from other writings by Thoreau or about Sir Walter Raleigh. These changes were not from Thoreau himself.
Main Ideas of the Essay
This essay praises Sir Walter Raleigh, who was an important English explorer and writer from the 1500s. Thoreau saw Raleigh as a brave and heroic person, even though he had some flaws. Thoreau believed Raleigh didn't always use his great qualities for the best possible goals.
At the end of the essay, Thoreau encourages America to produce its own heroes. He wrote:
We have considered a fair specimen of an Englishman in the sixteenth century; but it behooves us to be fairer specimens of American men in the nineteenth. The gods have given man no constant gift, but the power and liberty to act greatly. How many wait for health and warm weather to be heroic and noble! We are apt to think there is a kind of virtue which need not be heroic and brave – but in fact virtue is the deed of the bravest; and only the hardy souls venture upon it, for it deals in what we have no experience, and alone does the rude pioneer work of the world. In winter is its campaign, and it never goes into quarters. "Sit not down," said Sir Thomas Browne, "in the popular seats and common level of virtues, but endeavor to make them heroical. Offer not only peace-offerings, but holocausts, unto God".
Sixteen years after writing Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1859, Thoreau gave a lecture called A Plea for Captain John Brown. This lecture was later published as an essay. In it, Thoreau continued to explore and expand on the ideas about heroism and character that he first wrote about in Sir Walter Raleigh. He used John Brown, an important figure in the fight against slavery, as an example of a true hero.
Where to Find the Essay
Online Versions
- A complete collection of Thoreau's essays, including Sir Walter Raleigh at Standard Ebooks
- Sir Walter Raleigh at The Picket Line.
Printed Books
 | Delilah Pierce |
 | Gordon Parks |
 | Augusta Savage |
 | Charles Ethan Porter |
