Jones Very | |
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| Born | August 28, 1813 Salem, Massachusetts |
| Died | May 8, 1880 (aged 66) |
| Occupation | Essayist, poet and mystic |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Literary movement | Transcendentalism |
| Notable works | Essays and Poems (1839) |
Jones Very (August 28, 1813 – May 8, 1880) was an American poet, essayist, clergyman, and mystic associated with the American Transcendentalism movement. He was known as a scholar of William Shakespeare, and many of his poems were Shakespearean sonnets. He was well-known and respected among the Transcendentalists.
Born in Salem, Massachusetts to two unwed first cousins, Jones Very became associated with Harvard University, first as an undergraduate, then as a student in the Harvard Divinity School and as a tutor of Greek. He studied epic poetry and was invited to lecture on the topic in his home town, which drew the attention of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Soon after, Very asserted that he was the Second Coming of Christ, which resulted in his dismissal from Harvard and his eventual institutionalization in an insane asylum. When he was released, Emerson helped him issue a collection titled Essays and Poems in 1839. Very lived the majority of his life as a recluse from then, issuing poetry only sparingly. He died in 1880.