Thanatopsis

I must start out by saying that this poem by William Cullen Bryant is absolutely amazing. Anyone who has not read it yet should read it as soon as they get the chance.

Literally, this poem begins by saying that Nature speaks to people, and that the way she speaks is covertly and depends on how the person is feeling. The narrator suggests that you go into Nature when you think about death, and that Nature will speak to you quietly. She will tell you how you will become a part of the earth when you die, and that when you die, you will not be alone. You will rest in the same tomb as all of the great people of the past, present, and future. She also says that it is okay if no one cares that you are gone, because everyone will die. She will also tell you to live your life to the fullest so that you have no regrets when you die and can embrace the calmness of death.

This poem uses a lot of poetic devices in his poem to make his point. One that I noticed a lot in Bryant's poem Thanatopsis was metaphor, such as in the lines, "Yet not to thine eternal resting-place / Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish / Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down / With patriarchs of the infant world--with kings, / The powerful of the earth--the wise, the good, / Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, / All in one mighty sepulchre..." Technically speaking, the audience probably will not be buried right next to anyone described in this passage. However, they will be buried in the earth, which is where all of these people are buried, and thus, they will be buried with them.

From this passage, I take my one major conclusion from this poem. The figurative meaning, I believe, is that all of us are equal. Bryant says that we will be buried with "patriarchs of the infant world" and "the powerful of the earth." To be buried with a great person would be an honor, would it not? He suggests that people are equal because of the fact that we will all share our final resting place. I like this idea a lot; it is comforting for some reason to know that I will not be alone when I die.

Works Cited

Bryant, William Cullen. "Thanatopsis." Yale Book of American Verse. Ed. Thomas R. Lounsbury. New Haven: Yale UP, 1912. Poetry Archive. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. .