Thoreau’s Periodic Sentences, Experiential Transcendentalism, and Scientific Method

Abstract

Thoreau’s aphoristic sentences and plain style have been duly praised. This essay praises instead his periodic sentences and extravagant style that bespeak his love for the fullness of phenomenal reality. The essay first examines the scientific and rhetorical meanings of “periodic,” then the roots of Thoreau’s affection for periodic structures, which includes his experience of the seasonal periods of nature and the early natural historians of these periods, as well as Homeric similes that helped him realize links between earth and sky, home and cosmos. These roots are especially evident in Thoreau’s early works such as A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. The periodic sentences and worldview of American writers from Samuel Sewall to Herman Melville are then compared to those of Thoreau. Finally, the periodic sentences of the late Wild Fruits manuscript are celebrated for the scientific and transcendental value they place in preserving our natural world.