Creator
John Muir
Recipient
[Ralph Waldo] Emerson
Preview
Transcription
Yosemite Valley March 26th 72. Evening ---- -----Dear Emerson Yosemite is waving & throbbing in that kind of storm called Earthquake throbbing while I write. This morning at half past two oclock I was shaken most suddenly from sleep to blessed life. My cabin was full of strange sounds, & was rocking, crazing, swedging, shuddering in so boisterous a way that in crossing the floor I had to stagger & steady as if walking the deck of a schooner in waves. I had never experienced this kind of storm. Nevertheless I was not in doubt one moment for as the John Baptist Angel said squarely, "I am Gabriel", this storm said I am Earthquake, & I rumbled out to the open sky shooting. A noble Earthquake Noble Earthquake!!! The ground so reeled & jostled that I had to steady against a tree. The first "shock" was sustained for about three minutes with tremendous energy. It was no combination of chattering dismering tremors, but a most sublime out bloom of fervid passionate throbbings As if God had touched the mountains with a muscled hand, or were wearing them upon Him as common bones & flesh. The air was calm & the moon shone free, exposing strange agitation in the trees They waved & whipped as if their limbs had all been pressed close to their trunks then suddenly let
Location
Yosemite Valley
Date Original
1872 Mar 26
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Resource Identifier
muir02_0737-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0737
Copyright Status
Copyrighted
Copyright Statement
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit them, see http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections/Fees-and-Forms-.html
Owning Institution
The Houghton Library, Harvard University. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Copyright Holder
Muir-Hanna Trust
Copyright Date
1984
Page Number
Page 1
Keywords
John Muir, correspondence, letters, author, writing, naturalist, California, correspondent, mail, message, post, exchange of letters, missive, notes, epistle
