Walt Whitman wrote in Song of Myself, "You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books, you shall not look through jy eyes either, nor take things from me, you shall listen to all sides and filter them form your self" (1012). He is talking about how one should figure out their beliefs for themself. Hemmingway wrote something similar, and he explained how one shouldn't be looking up what to believe in libraries but one should live life for oneself.
I really like this idea of one figuring out life for themself, but I do think that one can learn from the past. Everyone makes mistakes, but maybe one can escape some mistakes by looking at ones that people have made before them. This was written during the romantic period, when the individual was celebrated. Transcendentalism was developed during this time, when the focus was more on the nature over civilization. The shift in the wtyle of writing was less importance on rhymn/meter/strict form.
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