On this day in 1882 Ralph Waldo Emerson died, at the age of seventy-eight. Though Emerson's last decade was one of increasing debility -- aphasia and senile dementia -- it was also one of international accolade. The Sage of Concord was still invited to speak across America and Europe, and he was still able to pack them in, though many came to see and honor rather than to hear the old talks on the familiar themes, redelivered now only with the prompts of his daughter, Ellen, from the wings. Walt Whitman said that he enjoyed "the first drawing of a good pot of tea ... FULL STORY »
