New Morning brings together philosophers, poets, and literary critics to celebrate and engage the ideas of the great American writer and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson's legacy influences many areas; he was a champion of democracy and civil rights, a naturalist, an idealist, an artist, a writer, and a philosopher. Rather than focusing on Emerson in his historical context, this volume brings to light the ways in which Emerson's voice and work still speak powerfully to the concerns of the present moment. In short essays and poems, some of America's most influential scholars and poets—including John J. McDermott, Mary Oliver, Mark Strand, Robert C. Pollock, Gary Snyder, and Lawrence Buell—underscore the relevance of Emerson's thought to contemporary issues as varied as the environment, race, politics, spirituality, aesthetics, and education.