Jones Very

Jones Very – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Explore the life, mystical vision, and poetic legacy of Jones Very (1813–1880), the American Transcendentalist poet and mystic. Discover his biography, major works, spiritual struggles, and inspiring quotes in this comprehensive article.

Introduction

Jones Very is a name that resonates more with the inner circles of 19th-century American poetry than with broad popular memory. Yet his life—at once austere, visionary, troubled, and deeply spiritual—makes him a fascinating figure in the history of American letters. Born in 1813 and passing in 1880, Very was a poet, essayist, clergyman, and mystic closely associated with the Transcendentalist movement. His utter devotion to spiritual ideals, his self-proclaimed prophetic mission, and his restrained but intense poetic output place him among the more enigmatic voices of his time.

In this article, we will journey through his early life and family, his education and career, the crises and visions that shaped his worldview, his relatively modest literary output, and the legacy and lessons that remain for us today. We will also sample some of his most memorable lines under the section “Famous Quotes of Jones Very.”

Early Life and Family

Jones Very was born on August 28, 1813 in Salem, Massachusetts.

His father was a sea captain and his mother was a freethinker.

His father’s health declined (in part due to hardships during wartime), and he died while returning from a voyage.

The influence of his mother was complex: she was outspoken in her skepticism (or nonorthodox views) of conventional religion, and that may have created inner tension as Jones’s own spiritual fervor grew.

In his youth, Jones Very was described as a studious, introspective, and solitary child.

He had siblings, including a younger sister, Lydia Louisa Anna Very (1823–1901), who later became an author and educator.

Youth and Education

Though his early life was marked by financial struggle, Very’s intellectual gifts became evident. He attended local schools in Salem, but by his teenage years, he was already showing promise in literary and classical studies.

In 1834, Very entered Harvard College (he entered as a sophomore). Bowdoin Prize for essays in two consecutive years— becoming the first Harvard student to do so.

Very’s interests ranged widely: he studied Greek and classical literature, was fascinated by Shakespeare, and engaged deeply with philosophical and theological questions.

He graduated from Harvard in 1836 (ranked near the top of his class) and afterward served briefly as a Greek tutor. Harvard Divinity School (1836–1838) with plans for a clerical vocation, though he would not complete the formal degree.

At Harvard, Very became known to the Transcendentalists and to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who recognized in him a kindred spiritual sensibility.

He was invited to deliver a lecture on epic poetry at the Concord Lyceum in 1838 (having walked 20 miles from Salem to Concord).

Very’s devotion to spiritual experience eventually shifted from academic ambition to prophetic conviction, setting the stage for his central crisis.

Career and Achievements

Literary Work and Contribution

Very’s poetic output was never voluminous, but it was intense and singular. His poems are often Shakespearean sonnets or variations on that structure, reflecting both his classical training and his deep engagement with Shakespeare’s metaphysical themes.

In 1839, with Emerson’s support, Very published a collection titled Essays and Poems.

Between 1838 and 1840, some of his poems appeared in The Western Messenger and The Dial, the influential Transcendentalist journal.

Despite praise from peers, Very was never widely read by the general public. His reputation was strongest within the Transcendentalist circle.

Themes in his poetry include the soul’s union with the divine, spiritual awakening, the tension between the finite and infinite, and solitude.

Spiritual Crisis, Visions, and Transformation

The turning point of Very’s life came during his Harvard years or shortly thereafter, when he began to experience what he considered divine revelation. He asserted that he was the Second Coming of Christ, that the spirit spoke through him, and that his verses and essays were communicated rather than composed by his own will.

These claims alarmed his colleagues. In August 1837, while traveling by train, Very felt terror at the speed of the train, later reinterpreting it as being “borne along by a divine engine.”

When he began publicly baptizing people, engaging in prophetic utterances, refusing to speak to or look at women (as a “sacrifice of Beauty”), and declaring his infallibility, the Harvard authorities removed him from his tutoring post.

During his confinement, he continued to write and lecture fellow patients on Shakespeare and poetry, defending his sense of mission.

After this crisis, Very withdrew from attempts at public or formal influence. Biographers often mark 1840 as the end of his “effective life” in terms of ambitious literary or intellectual engagement.

Later Years and Decline

From 1840 onward, Very largely retreated into seclusion. He lived most of his remaining life in Salem under the care and companionship of his sister.

Though he continued writing in manuscript form, much of his later work remained unpublished, circulating only among a small circle. May 8, 1880 in Salem, at the age of 66.

Upon his death, figures such as Amos Bronson Alcott and others in the Transcendentalist community expressed quiet respect and reflection on his life.

Historical Milestones & Context

To understand Jones Very’s place in American literary history, one must situate him within the Transcendentalist movement of mid-19th-century New England.

Prominent Transcendentalists—such as Emerson, Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson Alcott—promoted ideas of spiritual self-reliance, nature as a mirror of the divine, the primacy of individual intuition, and skepticism of institutional authority. Very shared many of these preoccupations, but his path diverged toward the mystical and prophetic.

In the late 1830s and early 1840s, the Transcendentalist circle was vibrant and experimental in literary, philosophical, and religious thinking. Very’s presence, while marginal and controversial, added an intense mystical streak to that ferment.

By the mid-to-late 19th century, the Transcendentalist movement’s direct influence waned, and many of its peripheral figures—like Very—fell into obscurity. Only later in the 20th century did scholars begin to reassess his contributions, particularly in light of interest in mysticism and outsider spirituality within American letters.

Critics such as Yvor Winters (1936) argued for the restoration of Jones Very into the American poetic canon, placing him alongside rediscovered figures such as Emily Dickinson and Herman Melville.

Legacy and Influence

Though Jones Very never achieved broad popular status in his lifetime, his legacy has seen modest revival among scholars of American mysticism, spiritual poetry, and Transcendental studies.

• In 1936, Yvor Winters published an influential essay calling for Very’s reconsideration and ranking him as a third significant rediscovered American writer beyond Dickinson and Melville.

• In 1942, William Irving Bartlett published Jones Very, Emerson’s “Brave Saint”, a biographical study that helped stabilize the historical record of his life.

• In 1993, a complete scholarly edition, Jones Very: The Complete Poems, was published, enabling modern readers and scholars access to his full poetic corpus.

• Contemporary scholars often explore Very in the context of American religious mysticism, prophetic literature, and the boundary between mental health and spiritual vision. His life raises questions about the cost of religious passion, the nature of prophecy, and the role of solitude in spiritual creativity.

Though his influence is not direct, Very’s life and work remain a touchstone for those interested in the intersection of poetry, mysticism, and radical religious consciousness in 19th-century America.

Personality and Talents

Jones Very was not easy to categorize. His personality combined mystic fervor, intellectual earnestness, austere discipline, and radical idealism.

• Devotional Focus: Very adhered to a vision of the soul’s surrender to the divine. He believed that genuine poetry must come from communion with a higher power, not from mere technique or ego.

• Solitude and Shyness: Even in academic settings, Very was reserved in social gatherings. Emerson once remarked: “When he is in the room with other persons, speech stops, as if there were a corpse in the apartment.”

• Ascetic Discipline: Very imposed upon himself a "sacrifice of Beauty" by avoiding interactions with women, believing fleshly attraction conflicted with spiritual purity.

• Uncompromising Conviction: When his spiritual calling came, Very embraced it wholeheartedly, even at the cost of institutional status and mental distress. His poetic life was subsumed by his prophetic vision.

• Intellectual Depth: He was deeply learned in Greek, Shakespeare, and classical literature. His essays, though less remembered, show analytical rigor and strong religious conviction.

While some biographers have interpreted his mental breakdown through psychological lenses (e.g. bipolar disorder or religious mania), others treat his visionary experience as part of the spiritual ferment of his time.

Famous Quotes of Jones Very

Though his writings are not widely quoted in popular culture, a few lines stand out, especially for their spiritual intensity and introspective depth. Here are several notable ones:

“From the wrestling of his own soul with the great enemy, comes that depth and mystery which startles us in Hamlet.”
— Essays and Poems

“Macbeth is contending with the realities of this world, Hamlet with those of the next.”
— Essays and Poems

“The later rain, — it falls in anxious haste / Upon the sun-dried fields and branches bare, / Loosening with searching drops the rigid waste, / As if it would each root’s lost strength repair.”
— Essays and Poems

“As long as man labors for a physical existence, though an act of necessity almost, he is yet natural; it is life, though that of this world, for which he instinctively works.”
— Essays and Poems

These lines reveal how Very combined spiritual longing with poetic sensibility, drawing on metaphors of nature, soul struggle, and human purpose.

Lessons from Jones Very

Jones Very’s life, with its heights of visionary capacity and depths of human frailty, offers many lessons—both literary and spiritual—for our time:

1. The cost of authenticity
   Very sacrificed academic advancement, social comfort, and even mental stability in pursuit of what he believed was divine truth. His story reminds us that radical authenticity often exacts a cost—but also carries power.

2. The boundary between mental distress and spiritual vision
   Very’s life challenges us to think compassionately about the thin line between prophetic experience and psychopathology. He raises enduring questions about how culture and institutions respond to those whose spiritual claims exceed norms.

3. Poetry as a spiritual medium
   For Very, poetry was not just aesthetic; it was sacred speech, a conduit for communion with the divine. His example invites poets and readers to see poetry not just as entertainment or craft, but as a channel of deeper insight.

4. Solitude as crucible
   His retreat from the world into solitude was not merely retreat but transformation. In silence and isolation, he refined his inner life. That suggests the value of occasional withdrawal from social noise to attend to one’s own deepest center.

5. Grace in obscurity
   Very died largely unnoticed by the mainstream of American letters, yet his work survives and calls interpreters. His life affirms that influence is not always measured by fame, and that some voices speak most powerfully from the margins.

Conclusion

Jones Very (1813–1880) remains a luminous, if obscure, figure in the landscape of American literature and religious thought. His brief period of creative output, his uncompromising spiritual zeal, and his suffering in the tension between worldly institutions and inner conviction make him a tragic, compelling presence.

Although he is not a household name today, his life and work continue to fascinate those who investigate the boundaries of mysticism, prophecy, and poetic speech. For readers seeking depth over popularity, Very’s poetry and journals reward immersion.

I encourage you to read Essays and Poems and Jones Very: The Complete Poems, reflect on his quotations, and consider what his radical devotion might teach us about faith, language, and integrity in our own time.