What is the tone of "The Rhodora" by Emerson (link to poem in the details)?

Question

I can't figure out the tone of this poem: http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/poems/rhodora.html

Help!?

Answer 1

“The Rhodora” was published in 1847 in Poems, the first of Emerson’s two volumes of poetry. In this response to a question, Emerson finds an opportunity to celebrate a flower simply for “being.” A deeper look, however, reveals that the poem is in keeping with Emerson’s transcendentalist beliefs about the mystical unity of God’s love throughout all nature. He comes to an appreciation of the Rhodora, a relatively common New England flowering shrub, by seeing it in its own context—by visiting it at home—and he offers that appreciation as a model for contemplating all of nature.

I would say that the tone is contemplative or wonderous. He is full of appreciation and adoration for nature's beauty.

Answer 2

Emerson is responding to a question with a vivid description of rhododendron with glory, beauty and peacefulness. The significant line "....beauty is its own excuse for being" is the focal point of what he is saying in as pleasing and peaceful a manner to convey the same about the flower.