William Cullen Bryant (1794---1878)

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William Cullen Bryant (1794---1878)

• Thanatopsis
• To a Waterfowl

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William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)
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William Cullen Bryant's estate in NY
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William Cullen Bryant's Homestead
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I. A brief biography

• William Cullen Bryant was an American Romantic
  poet and journalist. 1) Born in Cummington,
  Massachusetts
• 2) Educated at Williams College, he went on to
  study law at Worthington and Bridgewater and was
  admitted to the bar in 1815. Bryant worked as a
  lawyer in Northampton, Plainfield, and Great
  Barrington until 1825 when he married and moved
  to New York City and worked for the New York
  Review and then the New York Evening Post.

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I. A brief biography

• At first an associate editor, he became editor in
  1829 and remained in that post until his death.
• 3) As the driving force of this liberal and
  literate paper, he was strongly anti-slavery a
  founder of the Republican Party.
• 4) In 1860, Bryant founded New York Medical
  College.
• 5) In his later years, Bryant focused on
  translating and analyzing Ancient Greek and Latin
  works, such as The Iliad and The Odyssey of
  Homer.

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II. Major works

• Thanatopsis
• To a Waterfowl
• Translated works
• The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer

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III. Thanatopsis

• Thanatopsis, written by William Cullen Bryant at
  the age of 17, is considered to be a masterpiece
  of American poetry. The title is from the Greek
  thanatos ("death") and the suffix -opsis
  (literally, "sight") it has often been
  translated as "Meditation upon Death." Due to
  the unusual quality of the verse and Bryant's age
  when first published in 1890 by the North
  American Review, Richard Henry Dana, then
  associate editor at the Review, initially doubted
  its authenticity, saying to another editor, "No
  one, on this side of the Atlantic, is capable of
  writing such verses." Although the bulk of the
  poem was written at age 16, Bryant added the
  introductory and concluding lines 10 years later
  in 1821.

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III. Thanatopsis

• Bryant first wrote this poem when he was about
  17, after reading the British "graveyard poets"
  (e.g. Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country
  Churchyard" and Robert Blair, "The Grave") and
  William Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads. In
  particular, there are parallels to Wordsworths
  Lucy Poems, especially "A Slumber Did My Spirit
  Seal"

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III. Thanatopsis

• A slumber did my spirit sealI had no human
  fearsShe seemed a thing that could not feelThe
  touch of earthly years.

• No motion has she now, no forceShe neither
  hears nor seesRolled round in earth's diurnal
  course,With rocks, and stones, and trees.

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III. Thanatopsis

• This poem offers a democratic reconciliation with
  death as the great equalizer and a recognition
  that the still voice of God is embodied in all
  processes of nature. During a busy life as a
  lawyer and editor of the New York Evening Post,
  Bryant wrote accomplished, elegant, and romantic
  descriptions of a nature suffused with spirit.
• Thanatopsis remains one of the most widely
  referenced pieces of American verse, and is
  included in a collection called The 100 Best
  Poems of all Time edited by Leslie Pockell.

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III. Thanatopsis

• 2. Detailed analysis
• The title Bryant chose for this poem is rather
  fitting, being that "thanatopsis" is the
  contemplation of death. He begins by telling the
  reader that if one is in communion with Nature,
  then she will give him a message. This message
  will tell him how to live his life, and it will
  be unique to everyone else who is in communion
  with Nature. By receiving this message, he is
  somewhat connected to everyone in the world who
  has also received a message.

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III. Thanatopsis

• Anyone who is in tune with Nature will be
  comforted (by Nature), and each one will be
  different from the last person. Later in the
  first stanza, the poet advises that if one is
  down and are fear-ridden, he should go out and
  enjoy Nature, who will cause him to realize
  happiness, because in the end, all will join
  Nature in its beauty through Death.

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III. Thanatopsis

• The second stanza speaks of the comfort one may
  hope for in death. It refers to death as a
  "couch" that is greater than any other, and it
  claims that one will not lie in death alone. The
  poem reminds the reader that through death all
  will be forever connected with the greatest men
  of all time around the world. It then describes
  how Nature is beautiful with "The hills/
  Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun..." etc. Then
  it portrays even the duller parts of the world
  (Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste") as
  decoration of man's final resting place. The end
  of the second stanza ensures the reader that the
  dead alone reign supreme in Nature.

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III. Thanatopsis

• The third and fourth stanzas are much shorter,
  but carry the overall messageThe third stanza
  warns the reader that if he does not live a full
  and happy life, no one will notice when he is
  gone. They will all live life as if nothing
  happened. But to avoid depicting death as a bad
  thing, Bryant then re-ensures his audience that
  even if one's death goes unnoticed, all who lived
  that did or did not notice the person's death,
  will soon join that person regardless, for all
  are joined in death.

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III. Thanatopsis

• The fourth stanza is intended to end the poem on
  a hopeful note, and its purpose is also to drive
  home the strongest point in the poem If one
  lives life to its fullest, he may embrace death
  with comfort and pleasure. He may die
  peacefully.This poem had three main points it
  wished to make, the final one being the most
  important1) Live life fully in order to die
  well and comfortably.2) In death, all are joined
  with Nature and with each other for eternity.3)
  This comfort and togetherness in death may only
  be obtained through death.

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III. Thanatopsis

• 3. Questions for discussion
• After reading the poem, consider the following
  questions.
• What Greek words were combined to make the title?
  How do the meanings of these words contribute to
  the meaning of the poem?
• ---Thanatos (death) Opsis (seeing).The title
  presents the poem as a way of seeing death.
• Define the following words consider the context
  of the poem shroud, pall, narrow house, and
  sepulcher. How do these words and their meanings
  impact the meaning of the poem?

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III. Thanatopsis

• ---All of these words are associated with death
  and burial. This furthers the idea of the poem
  presenting a way of looking at death.
• Is this a poem about life or is this a poem about
  death? Explain your answer. Answers will vary
  and should be supported from text.
• The tone of this poem shifts. What is the tone
  in the first part of the poem? When does the
  tone shift? What is the tone after the shift?
• ---The tone in the first part of the poem is
  forbidding, stern, final and then shifts to one
  of comfort.

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III. Thanatopsis

• Thanatopsis is an elegy. What is an elegy? What
  are the conventions of an elegy? What elements of
  Thanatopsis meet those conventions?
• ---An elegy must move from grief to comfort, must
  shift from melancholy and mournful to soothing
  and comforting. The poem says we will not be
  alone when we die, etc

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III. Thanatopsis

• This poem was written early in the nineteenth
  century. The type of landscape art during this
  time period favored sweeping panoramas, wild
  vistas, untamed landscapes, and views of the sky.
  Look at Thanatopsis as a visual description of a
  painting. What elements of the poem are like a
  painting? What images are created in the poem?
  What landscape is created? Look at all of the
  descriptions of nature, etc.

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III. Thanatopsis

• Thanatopsis is a poem that can be interpreted in
  several ways.
• How is this poem an example of a historical
  piece?
• ---It represents part of the view of the time
  period.
• How is this a Romantic poem?
• ---The speaker hears the voice of nature, turns
  to nature for comfort. It presents a William
  Wordsworths nature. The recurring theme of death
  seems to be quite constant throughout the genre
  of Romanticism. Bryant attempts to make death a
  comfortable feeling, referring to the word couch
  as something you can simply curl up and feel good
  in.

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III. Thanatopsis

• How is this a Calvinist poem?
• ---Look at the poem as religious counsel. Many
  elements of Calvinistic beliefs are present.

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IV. To a Waterfowl

• To a Waterfowl is a poem by William Cullen Bryant
  that was first published in 1821. Matthew Arnold,
  the eminent English critic and poet, called it
  the most perfect poem in the language.The
  reason that Bryant chooses a waterfowl of all
  animals to write about is because of a special
  encounter he had on the way from Cummington to
  Plainfield,Massachusetts, in December 1815.

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IV. To a Waterfowl

• It seems that Bryant was walking along and
  noticed that the waterfowl was flying around
  overhead and that he too seemed to be on a
  journey alone then Bryant began to think that he
  himself was not alone. He realized that the
  waterfowl seemed alone also, but he too was being
  guided by some higher being and they both would
  find their way.

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IV. To a Waterfowl

• Bryant's poem begins with a waterfowl in flight
  and a hunter below. The bird's instinct allows it
  to fly to safety. In spite of the danger,
  hardships and temptations on the way, the bird
  continues its flight to its destination. As the
  speaker watches the bird, he ponders the
  mysteries of migration. Bryant parallels the
  bird's instinct to a "Power." Even though humans
  have no real instinct to guide them to safety,
  there is a "Power" or God that will guide them to
  safety.

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IV. To a Waterfowl

• In the last paragraph of the poem Bryant seems to
  be comparing our life with God to that of a
  waterfowl. He says "He who from zone to zone,
  Guides through the boundless sky thy certain
  flight, In the long way that I must tread alone,
  Will lead my steps aright." He is saying that
  throughout our life wherever we go God is going
  to be with us guiding us down the right path. And
  in times when we think we must go alone, he too
  will be with us then. He never leaves us long
  enough for us to fall, just long enough for us to
  learn from what we do.

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IV. To a Waterfowl

• Questions for discussion
• 1) Can we interpret the poem in any other way?
  For example, can the Power of care and the He
  in the poem mean anything else?
• 2) What can we learn from the waterfowls flight?

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Thank you!