William Bryant's Thanatopsis

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Honoring the Nature: Thanatopsis

Everyone wonders about death. Some people might be less afraid of death, but many people continues to wonder about death and hope it doesn’t happen too early. “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant vividly describes the fear of death, which then smoothly relates the nature to cycle of death. Eventually, the poem changes initial fear of death to peaceful and easeful imagery of death. Thanatopsis is a romantic poem which depicts death as the nature. Overall, it is noticeable that the author was only in agony, until he realized that death is to be part of the nature. Bryant starts the poem with full of fear. He is in grief because of his fear towards death, and the pleasant view of nature surrounds him to calm him down.
She glides into his darker musings, with a mild and healing sympathy, that steals away their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts of the …show more content…
He provides imageries of his death “Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears” (William C. Bryant 782), and continues to describe death with sad thoughts about no more sun and ocean. However, he also imagines further and engage details of nature during his death “To mix forever with the elements, to be a brother to the insensible rock and to the sluggish clod… The oak shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould” (William C. Bryant 782). Although, the nature’s details are described negative at this stage of the poem (such as “insensible”, and “sluggish”), death is no longer the only concern of the author’s mind. Moreover, it also starts the connection of death and the nature. Bryant’s connection of death and the nature starts to mature, which blunts the fear of death. He continues to describe the nature, but without the painful thoughts about death. It is obvious that his descriptions of the nature are no longer negative, but beautiful just like the pleasant nature in the
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