What do you think Thoreau means when he talks of "our Genius"?

For instance, he writes that "After a partial cessation of his sensuous life, the soul of man, or its organs rather, are reinvigorated each day, and his Genius tries again what nobel life it can make." Similarily, he says, "Little is to be expected of that day, if it can be called a day, to which we are not awaked by our Genius, but by the mechanical nudgings of some servitor, are not awakened by our own newly-acquried force and aspirations from within, accompanied by the undulations of celestial music, instead of factory bells." What is the nature of our Genius, according to Thoreau? From where does it originate? What is its purpose?