Walking (essay)
"Walking" is a lecture by Henry David Thoreau, first given at the Concord Lyceum on April 23, 1851. He wrote it between 1851 and 1860, using material from his journals. Thoreau read the piece ten times, more than any other lecture. It was published after his death in 1862 in Atlantic Monthly.
The essay has an autobiographical feel, drawing on Thoreau’s own experiences. As Rebecca Solnit notes in Wanderlust, walking can inspire music, conversation, thoughts, and literature. Over more than ten years of walking, Thoreau watched nature, organized his ideas, and decided how to express them. His diary shows what daily life shaped his environmental views and motivated him to write. His letters with friends reveal his lecture career, works, and writing process.
The essay is told in a confident narrator’s voice. By using allusion, Thoreau makes it easy to understand and even poetic. With this new writing style, Walking became a fresh critique of society.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:28 (CET).