Your Horse or Mine? : An essay on Walden
Henry David Thoreau to much of the literary world was one of the greatest writers of all time. His philosophy, experiments, theories and opinions are considered genius even by today's standards. Thoreau does, however, manage to stump even the best of the english and literature scholars with one phrase in his book Walden. "I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove, and I am still on their trail. Many are the travelers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who had heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the turtle dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves." For some, the horse, turtle dove and hound are symbolic of actual human beings. His friend, father, girlfriend just to name a few. They believe that Thoreau is making reference to people who, at one time or another, were close to him and he cared for. These figures either dies, moved away, rejected him, or lost touch some how. In some way, he had lost people he held with a certain emotion. On the flip side, many others believe that he was only using the animals as a metaphor to show
In any sense, I think that the bay horse could have stood for self esteem that Thoreau may have had at one time. A number of things could have been the factor to which broke his confidence, which could also offer a good reason as to why he packed up ship and moved out into the woods. Although he may try to hide it, it could come off as though he is sour about something and holds a vendetta against society for the miserable life he led. This all could have spawned from his rejected attempt at a marriage proposal to Ellen Sewall. Barbara Johnson, in her book A World of Difference, wrote a chapter entitled A Hound, a Bay Horse, and a Turtle Dove, which addressed the troubling and mental stresses that this certain passage has cause. As she says in her book, "Others have seen in the symbols "a mythical record of [Thoreau's] disappointments"". To me, the use of these specific animals can be understood better if we look at what they represent in the world today and if its different, what they represented back then. Johnson brings up a good point in that Thoreau never talked about anything in the book with out it having some sort of deeper meaning. Even in the Bean field chapter, Johnson writes "He speaks of sowing the seeds of sincerity, truth, faith, and innocence" which, in my opinion, really proves the notion that the 3 animals are nothing but additional symbolic figures, holding meaning to some other aspect of his life. His entire book is full of symbolism, so why would he break suit and write in something that is out of character? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not supposed to confuse the people you are trying to get to understand you. The hound could have stood for a number of things. In everything, I believe that Thoreau is talking about how he once felt a part of society and had a place but at various points in time, he grew more and more detached from the world. Dogs, especially hounds, are known for their loyalty, affection, and involvement with their master. The master in this case, being culture, life, and society. The hound could have
Some common words found in the essay are:
Turtle Dove, David Thoreau, Ellen Sewall, God Father, Correct I'm, turtle dove, horse turtle dove, World Difference, bay horse, horse turtle, , Barbara Johnson, bay horse turtle, hound bay, hound bay horse, hound horse, 3 animals, moved woods, lost trail, believe thoreau,
Approximate Word count = 1395
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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