Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, son of an Unitarian Minister, was born at Boston, U.S., May 25, 1803. He was educated for the Unitarian Ministry, and acted, 1829-32, as one of their ministers. Ultimately he left the ministry, and devoted himself to lecturing and literature. As a philosopher, essayist, and poet he rose to a distinguished position. He died at Concord, Massachusetts, April 27, 1882. His published works include Poems, 1846; Orations, Lectures, and Addresses, 1844; Representative Men, 1850; English Traits, 1856, &c. His hymns are not numerous.

They include:—
1. Out from the heart of nature rolled. The Everlasting Word. This is part of his poem The Problem, published in the Dial, July, 1840; and then in the 1st ed. of his Poems, 1846. It was included in the Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, No. 636; and Martineau's Hymns, &c, 1873, No. 112.
2. We love the venerable house. The House of God. Written in 1833, for the Ordination of the Rev. Chandler Bobbins, who succeeded Emerson as Minister of the Second (Unitarian) Church, Boston. It is in the Hymns of thd Spirit, 1864, No. 224; and Martineau's Hymns of Praise and Prayer, 1873.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)