Preview

Thanatopsis Essay

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
623 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Thanatopsis Essay
The poem Thanatopsis tells a story to not be sad when thinking about death, that we should approach death peacefully and carefully. William Cullen Bryant speaks about death in a positive way. Meaning when we look at death we mourn at what pain it brings us. Wanting his readers to understand death is going to come, and by using such content words and neutral tones he expresses his meaning of the work. Throughout the poem he expresses his feelings through imagery and symbolism. Throughout the reading that death can come at any point and that we should not be physically prepared for it but, we should understand and accept it will come one day. “ She has a voice of gladness, and a smile and Eloquence of beauty”. By using these types of lines and …show more content…
By comparing joyful tones to death is difficult to understand, by comparing them to things that have similar meanings which makes it more understandable. “Take note of thy departure? All that breathe will share thy destiny”. By comparing him dying and using a comparison to the other it also shows his meaning of the work. That no matter what, no matter what breath you take, you will end up in the same boat. Once again comparing and showing the meaning of the work throughout each quote in the poem. This quote most importantly proves his meaning, by comparing the people who don't understand death as a timeless thing and as something that shouldn't be spoken of until it happens. This interrupts the meaning of how death is a concept that is terrifying. “The speechless babe, and the gray-headed man man- -Shall one by one be gathered to thy side, By those, who in their turn, shall follow them”. Once again continuing the process of which the author continues to use and compare the people who never thought about death in this way, to believe him and what he preaches. As spoken in the quote before this has a more unique meaning to what he compares death too. Going strait to the point in which people all are going to end up in the same
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson's View of Death
    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Emily Dickinson's View of Death

    the poem is that children do not think about death. In fact, they do not even know that the…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Comparing Poems 'Thanotopsis And The Chambered Nautilus'
    • 164 Words
    • 1 Page

    Comparing Poems 'Thanotopsis And The Chambered Nautilus'

    In the poem Thanotopsis the speaker tells us that we can find comfort in nature by observing it. The speaker also tells us that the fear of death is unnecessary considering everyone has to die at some point. The Chambered Nautilus focus’s on how the body will be left behind like the Nautilus, but the…

    • 164 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Romantic Poem Thanatopsis By William Cullen Bryant
    • 143 Words
    • 1 Page

    A Romantic Poem Thanatopsis By William Cullen Bryant

    “Thanatopsis” is a romantic poem written by William Cullen Bryant. The poem gives a pantheistic and philosophical view of nature, God, and death. “Thanatopsis” was a revolutionary work for its time because it focuses of finding solace in death. Bryant’s writing challenged the normal concept of literature by building off of and borrowing old ideas. Before transcendentalist ideas became popular, writers’ work was centered on God and the physical world. Bryant and other transcendentalist writers challenged this ordinary way of thinking by questioning reality, finding comfort in nature, and concentrating on improving their inner beings. Bryant vividly describes the beauty and grace in nature with the use of personification. He wants the reader…

    • 143 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Poem Analysis Of Bryant's Thanatopsis And Dust In The Wind
    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Poem Analysis Of Bryant's Thanatopsis And Dust In The Wind

    The song speaks of death as something, almost inviting. “-Seasons don’t fear the reaper, nor do the wind, the son or the rain.-” it goes on to saying “-we can be like they are-”. Its referring to how we should just go with it, and how it is a good thing when it comes down to it. It speaks about Romeo and Juliet, and how they “-are together in eternity.”. They had died because they could not be together, so in death they are. That the sadness will end when death comes, “come the last night of sadness, and it was clear she couldn’t go on.”, “The curtains flew open and then he appeared saying; ‘Don’t be…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, By Dylan Thomas
    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, By Dylan Thomas

    He states, "Throughout the first five stanzas of the poem, the speaker spends the lines generally talking about death and how one should stand up in the face of…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Son My Executioner Summary
    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages

    My Son My Executioner Summary

    They begin a new life. In the second stanza the speaker says, “Your cries and hungers document our bodily decay”. This is symbolic of new parents sacrificing their life for their child. Parents, especially parents of a new baby, sacrifice a lot of sleep for example. When one does not sleep they feel ill in many ways. They may feel like zombies without sleep. They give up time they had once spent caring for themselves. They now spend much of that time caring for a demanding newborn. The physical and emotional demands of caring for a newborn exhausting for parents. Also in the second stanza the speaker writes, “Sweet death, small son, our instrument of immortality” there are two origins of irony here. “Sweet death” to most people does not seem like fitting words for a newborn. Death is not sweet. Death is sad and cold. However, when thinking about the amount of energy parents spend on their infants, and how at times, they feel like the life has been sucked out of them “sweet death” begins to sound accurate. Parents love their children. They will do anything for their child even if the child has demanding needs (Longman…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Thanatopsis: Life and William Cullen Bryant
    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Thanatopsis: Life and William Cullen Bryant

    "Thanatopsis" reassures the reader that they will not be alone in death: "Yet not to thin eternal resting-place shalt thou retire alone" (32-33). This is a comforting fact to the reader because they will not be alone when they are buried and returned to the earth. People fear being alone, and with the great unknown, death, at hand, this verse reassures the reader that they will not be alone.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    To An Athlete Dying Young Poem Analysis
    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To An Athlete Dying Young Poem Analysis

    The speaker is viewing the premature death in a positive light. To most, that is a terrible or even sinful thing to contemplate, but it is indeed what the speaker is conveying. The theme of this poem is that it is better to die as a young champion than to grow old and be forgotten by all those how surpass your one-time greatness. He calls the dead athlete a "smart lad" for dying as a champion and not remaining in the "fields where glory does not stay." He then compares early death to growing old and being forgotten in the lines "And silence sounds on worse than cheers after earth has stopped the ears." That is a powerful statement. The speaker honestly believes that it is just as well to die young and be praised as it is to live out the rest if your life and be forgotten. The line "Runners whom renown outran" also indicates the theme. That line conveys the message that the fame and glory is only temporary, and it is better to perish before the name dies before the man. The last two stanzas paint a picture that the death saw a type of victory for the athlete. He died without the taste of defeat; he died a champion. The theme may be rather ugly, but it is one that many people can…

    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    When I Died- an Explication of Emily Dickenson's "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"
    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When I Died- an Explication of Emily Dickenson's "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

    The very first words in the poem are, “I heard a fly buzz—when I died.” Tossing those words to the reader unceremoniously, the speaker sets the tone for the remainder of the poem. Talking about his/her own death as if it is an afterthought to a memory of a fly buzzing around the room strips the claim, that he is dead, of its gravity. As it is the first thing the reader registers from the poem it is accepted as a matter of fact. There is no leading up to his death, or struggle to prepare himself for death; he simply is already dead. This knowledge frees the reader of focusing on the speaker’s death, which under any other circumstance would have been the focal point of this poem. Their attention is drawn elsewhere this time however—to the buzzing fly.…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Do not go into that good night
    • 311 Words
    • 1 Page

    Do not go into that good night

    In the fourth stanza he tells us that some people don’t learn about life soon enough when he says “And learn, too late, they grieved on its way, /Go not go gentle into that good night.” When he says “grieved” or “go gentle” it gives a rebellious outlook about death. Towards the end of the poem the author gives an example that even his father will have to battle death. In the last two lines of the stanza the author uses a couplet when he says, “Do not go gentle into that good night, /Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” The last words say that people should fight death and carry on living.…

    • 311 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson Diction
    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Emily Dickinson Diction

    There is a multitude of poems written with the theme of death, be it in a positive light or negative. Some poets write poems that depict Death as a spine-chilling inevitable end, others hold respect for this natural occurrence. In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, diction and personification is utilized to demonstrate the speaker’s cordial friendship with Death.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Thanatopsis
    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Thanatopsis

    “Thanatopsis” is a poem of death but it isn’t there to frighten people about death but to show them a greater side in a way. He shows a more gentle, peaceful, and more rewarding kind of side to death. Death isn’t rewarding of course but giving back to the land you once took and lived from gives you a form of use than just being dead in the ground. "Thanatopsis" also tells the reader that he/she will not go to death alone. Everyone who has ever died will already be there. Everyone who hasn't gone yet will be there eventually. Bryant made passing seem like a relatively pleasant thing.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Do Not Go Gentle
    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Do Not Go Gentle

    One of the most important distinctions that Thomas makes is the difference between light and dark imagery. This imagery is followed by words such as ‘light’, ‘night’ to help convey the ideas of death and life. Also, Thomas is very crafty and uses to establish a man’s timeline to death as one whole day. In other words, he uses the cycle of one day to help relate to his reader of when someone dies. What makes this poem such a great poem, is that the poem has many meaning. While this poem does signal death, it does not necessarily have to be associated with death. In context, Thomas uses words like ‘rage’ to symbolize the action of going against something in which people believe is wrong. If the brave people of the civil rights movements, or the pilgrims of plymouth just went “gentle into that good night”, the world would have been much different (1, Thomas). The major point that poet is trying to make is that humans will always go through struggles, but it is their duty to overcome and to “rage against the dying of the light”, and the things that they know are…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Kindly's Poem 'Since I Couldn' T Stop For Death
    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Kindly's Poem 'Since I Couldn' T Stop For Death

    Dying as we probably are aware it is a miserable event. Amusingly the word benevolently recommend a state of mind of solace and finding a sense of contentment with death. Another word that communicates meaning is death. Death in this poem passes on a negative meaning that presents pity or some type of casualty.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Commentary on 'Snowy Morning'
    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Commentary on 'Snowy Morning'

    Shukman begins the poem with a childhood reference that refers to the idea of death melodramatically, which contrasts sharply with the underlying fear of dying. Shukman states that he used to, “play” at dying which implies that it was viewed as a light subject, something to be mocked in a variety of dramatic ways. However, this is followed by a mention of them fake dying with, “hands clasped to the chest”. This alludes the physicality of the fear felt upon contemplation of death and creates a paradox between the implied fear in, “hands clasped to the chest” and the jocular tone of the preceding lines. The effect of this is to highlight the discrepancy between how we perceive death when amongst others and internally. From this we can infer that Shukman’s message is that although we may show bravado when dealing with death we all feel regret towards our eventual demise.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics