Folklore & Mythology Tradition
Documented in Fuller’s letters, books, manuscripts, memoirs
This page brings together documented engagements currently identified within the Fuller Reading Worlds catalog.
“Margaret was reading, in these weeks, the Four Books of Confucius, the Desatir, some of Taylor's translations from the Greek, a work on Scandinavian Mythology, Moehler's Symbolism, Fourier's Noveau Monde Industriel, and Landor's Pentameron”
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, William Henry Channing, and James Freeman Clarke, eds. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 2 vols. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1852.
“as Leila said to Mignoun, in those beautiful Persic poems we have so often conned together in more studious hours. 'Let fate do her worst &c!”
Fuller, Margaret. The Letters of Margaret Fuller. Edited by Robert N. Hudspeth. Vol. I. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983.
Inferred Fuller explicitly names "Leila" and "Mignoun" as characters in "those beautiful Persic poems we have so often conned together," clearly referring to the Persian poetic tradition of Layla and Majnun—the famous love-story tradition exemplified by Nizami Ganjavi's verse romance (c. 1188 CE).
“Could I transport myself on some Aladdin carpet and return in a few hours, unseen by any one but you, we would take a walk together today.”
Fuller, Margaret. The Letters of Margaret Fuller. Edited by Robert N. Hudspeth. Vol. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984.
Inferred Fuller alludes to the 'Aladdin carpet' (magic flying carpet) as a figure of instantaneous transportation.
“The Desatir I want to keep awhile for Sunday reading.”
Fuller, Margaret. The Letters of Margaret Fuller. Edited by Robert N. Hudspeth. Vol. III. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986.
“studied much in evenings, Taylor's translations of the old Greek writers, the Confucious, the Desater, and Alkuna, a Scandinavian mythology, have been my best books.”
Fuller, Margaret. The Letters of Margaret Fuller. Edited by Robert N. Hudspeth. Vol. III. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986.
Inferred Fuller names "Taylor's translations of the old Greek writers" among her "best books" during her seven weeks at Fishkill Landing, and Hudspeth identified Classical Tracts (London, 1831) or The Mystical Initiations; or, Hymns of Orpheus (1787) as likely candidates, with the former being more probable.
“The Persian sacred books, the Desatir, describe the great and holy prince Ky Khosrou, as being "an angel, and the son of an angel," one to whom the Supreme says, "Thou art not absent from before me for one twinkling of an eye.”
Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Greeley & McElrath, 1845.
Footnote cites 'The Persian sacred books, the Desatir' — the Desatir is a Persian religious text.
“So talks the soft spring gale of the Shah Nameh. Genuine Sanscrit I cannot write. My Persian and Arabic you love not.”
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, William Henry Channing, and James Freeman Clarke, eds. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 2 vols. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1852.
Inferred Margaret Fuller engages with Firdausi's epic poem, the Shahnameh or Book of Kings, by explicitly invoking it to describe the gentle cadence of her own prose, stating, "So talks the soft spring gale of the Shah Nameh." Her reference suggests familiarity with the foundational Persian work, even as she playfully dismisses less familiar linguistic comparisons ("My Persian and Arabic you love not").
Undated
Pieces with no legible date. They are part of the record but cannot be placed on the lifeline.
“Fan again the Parsee fire, / Let it light my funeral pyre / Purify the veins of Earth, / Temper for a Phenix birth,”
Fuller, Margaret. "Virgin Mother, Mary Mild." Boston Public Library Archives & Special Collections; MS Am. 1450; Box: 3, Folder: 146.
Inferred Identification rationale not yet recorded.