In this classic essay, Ralph Waldo Emerson presents the foundations of Transcendentalism, the belief system in which the divine permeates nature and in which reality is understood through nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) was an American essayist and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement. He wrote on individuality, freedom, and the relationship between the soul and the surrounding world. Emerson was a key influence on the writings of Henry David Thoreau.