Emerson's Page

Text of Poem	His neighbors scratched stones from their land, but Emerson with practiced hand rifled their secrets as he read, A stone is a granite book, he said. Stones break plows hidden from sight and farmers answer with dynamite. But will by force is not the sun to ripen truth, said Emerson, a pine tree’s wisdom speaks in cones. He went on reading brooks and stones.
First Line	His Neighbors scratched
Original Pub Location	Educational Leadership
Original Publication Date	1959
Original Citation	Educational Leadership 17 (Oct. 1959) 10,
Complete Poems	97
Hearst Collections	Limited View 28, Shaken by Leaf-fall 50, Landmark and Other Poems 29.
Word Count	64
Poetic Form	closed
References and Commentary	Emily Dickinson called Emerson's Representative Men ‘a little granite book you can lean on…' re: lines 7-8.
Bibliographic Notes	Same poem but with significant changes. Published as "The Sage and Stones" in Limited View. First line in "The Sage," "His neighbors farmed" Could have entries for both. On file.
Themes	nature wisdom

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