“Emerson is the spokesman and prophet of youth and of a formative, idealistic age. His is a voice from the heights which are ever bathed in the sunshine of the spirit. I find that something one gets from Emerson in early life does not leave him when he grows old.”

American naturalist and nature essayist

John Burroughs was an American naturalist and nature essayist. He was active in the conservation movement in the United States and is remembered for writing about the natural world. His first essay collection, Wake-Robin, appeared in 1871. Burroughs’s work helped shape American nature writing, with essays that reflect close attention to landscapes, plants, and wildlife.