Analysis Of William Cullen Bryant's Thanatopsis

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” (Mark Twain). This quote from the famous American writer is the basis for what became one of the hardest ideas to comprehend, death. Death has always been a complex term, causing one to struggle with what the true definition is. It is also hard to wrap your mind around what does it truly mean to die. These are the questions we long for the answer. Whether we acknowledge it or not, death has always been feared by many. Death remains an impossible question, one that has been unexplained since beginning of time. Even though dying is a natural, we as a human race still fear it. What can be done to defeat this never-ending battle? According to Montaigne’s “To Philosophize is to Learn to Die” and Cory Taylor’s “Questions for Me About Dying” we can overcome this by living to the fullest, living with no regrets, living a legacy, and lastly not fearing the inevitable. If you want to conquer the question of life, live in the moment.

Robert Frost and William Shakespeare have been celebrated by many people because of their ability to express themselves through the written word. Here we are years after their deaths analyzing these fascinating poems about life and death. It’s clear they had similar thoughts about this subject at the time of these writings, even though their characters could not have been more opposite. For both poets, life is too

Death is a topic that unites all of humanity. While it can be uncomfortable to think about, confronting death in unavoidable. “Dying” addresses that discomfort and universal unwillingness to consider the inevitability of death. Pinsky’s use of imagery, symbolism, and tone create a poetic experience that is like death, something every reader can relate to. In “Dying,” Pinsky describes how people are oblivious and almost uncaring when it comes to the thought of death. Pinsky is trying to convince the reader that they shouldn’t ignore the concept of death because life is shorter than it seems.

Death is a natural cause from the human condition. There are three poems that explore death. “Thanatopsis” by William C. Bryant, “Dust in the wind” by Kansas, and Don't fear the reaper.” by Blue Oyster Cult.

Chuck Palahniuk once said, “The first step to eternal life, is you have to die.” In William Cullen Bryant’s poem “Thanatopsis”, he does not mention eternal life or anything religious, but speaks about death. He tells his readers that death is a natural thing and they should not worry about it. William Cullen Bryant, in his poem “Thanatopsis”, portrays a comforting view of death. Throughout the poem, Bryant encourages his readers by explaining that in death they are not alone, that death, like life, is a natural process, and that they will be among some of the finest people who walked the earth.

Death is part of the human life cycle, approximately 151,600 people die each day. Everyone wonders how they will die, if they suffer, if it’s tragic or if it’s just simply peaceful. In each of the three poems the main focus is death. Each poem shows a different feeling about death. “Thanatopsis” by William Bryant, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult and “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas, all have different meanings of death.

Death is a scary thing no one wants to think about it. But if you are a living thing and are human you will die.Everyone around you will die. Nothing that is alive around you today will last for ever. So when it’s time comes, you have to remember the good times and say your goodbyes. “Thanatopsis” written by William Cullen Bryant, “Don’t Fear The Reaper” written by Oyster Cult, “Dust In The Wind” written by Kansas. Each poem talks about death within the poem. They all look at life and death in different ways how to remember life with others around you, there point on when you die how your gone forever. Nobody knows what death is like because they haven’t experienced it. That explains why all three poems look at death differently.

Emily Dickinson is one of the most important American poets of the 1800s. Dickinson, who was known to be quite the recluse, lived and died in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, spending the majority of her days alone in her room writing poetry. What few friends she did have would testify that Dickinson was a rather introverted and melancholy person, which shows in a number of her poems where regular themes include death and mortality. One such poem that exemplifies her “dark side” is, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. In this piece, Dickinson tells the story of a soul’s transition into the afterlife showing that time and death have outright power over our lives and can make what was once significant become meaningless.

Regardless of race, caste, religion, or age, every human has wondered about the one fact of life that unifies us all: What is death? Both poems, “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” by Margaret Atwood and “Because I could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson share a common subject of death. Using figurative language, both poems illustrate distinct takes on a similar topic.

The poem “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant reveals a very unusual aspect of nature. While most people think of nature as beauty and full of life, Bryant takes a more interesting approach to nature. He exposes a correlation between nature, life, death, and re-birth. Using nature as a foothold, Bryant exercises methods such as tone, setting, and imagery in a very intriguing way while writing “Thanatopsis.”

Death is an inevitable fate for all living beings. It’s an aspect of life that can be hard to deal with, and the ability to overcome the fear of this unavoidable event can be difficult when it comes to knowing the reality of your fate in an

Death is the unavoidable fate of every single living person on this planet. There is nothing that anybody can do to avoid death. Not only does death occur, but it occurs in many ways that cannot be predicted. People die every day no-matter where they are on earth, some by old age, some by disease, others by whatever can get to them first to kill them. Everybody eventually must face the fact that they are going to die.

William Cullen Bryant’s poem “Thanatopsis” and “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas are both expressive of life’s purpose and death, but their different opinions on the situation creates contrast. The pieces have some things in common, because they both use nature analogies to create personification and imagery, which is shown as the speaker in “Thanatopsis” says, “The golden sun... shining on the sad abodes of death” (46-48) and “The oak shall send his roots abroad” (30-31). “Dust in the Wind” also expresses, “Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky” (7), making a connection to nature and how only it is permanent. Both works also share a common theme; that mankind shouldn’t get too attached to tangibles, because there is a greater reward in the

Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Edgar Lee Masters were three literacy scholars, who without a doubt evolved American literature. They were each able to break the ancient stigmas, and created supplementary freedom when it came to what a piece of literature can offer. They were known to speak upon various topics that were recognized as inappropriate within the society, but that didn’t stop them from stating their beliefs. Common similarities that these literacy masters shared amongst each other were constant themes of death, afterlife and religion. Although these three themes made a regular occurrence in their pieces of literature, each writer had different views towards the various themes which were displayed throughout their texts, and pieces of poetries.

Is death a slave to fate or is it a dreaded reality? People differ on the opinion of death, some people view death as a new beginning which should not be feared, while many people perceive death as an atrocious monster. Death be not proud, by John Donne is a poem that challenges death and the idea of its ferocity. Donne’s work is greatly influenced by the death of his countless family members, friends and spouse. Donne was not only a poet, but he was also a priest in the Church of England, so his interest in religion and his belief in eternal life after death, also contributed greatly to his work. The poem Death be not proud, is a metaphysical poem about death, in which John Donne undermines, ridicules, and determines the meaning of death, according to his perspective.