Jones Very

American poet and mystic

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History

Jones Very (born August 28, 1813, Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.—died May 8, 1880, Salem) was an American Transcendentalist poet and Christian mystic.

Very was born into a seafaring family. In his youth he sailed with his father, a master seaman, visiting such distant places as Russia and New Orleans. Very was educated at Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School (1834–38). At Harvard he became a Greek tutor, but his faculty colleagues ultimately forced his resignation after he began to relate his mystic beliefs and his “visions.” Because of the latter, he was briefly institutionalized.

Very first came to notice for his critical essays. He began writing religious sonnets as early as 1837, insisting that they were all “communicated” to him. Contemporary authors, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, praised his work for its beauty and simplicity. His Essays and Poems was published in 1839. In 1840 Very retired to Salem, and in 1843 he was licensed to preach as a Unitarian minister.