thanatopsis
The poem, "Thanatopsis," written by William Cullen Bryant, is a wonderful literarywork which explores the often controversial questions of death. William Cullen Bryant wrote Thanatopsis when he was seventeen years of age. Thanatopsis was written in blank verse. Within his well written lines Bryant attempts to show the relationship between death's eternal questions and the ongoing cycle of nature and life. Upon concluding the poem many readers are able to reaffirm their faith of an afterlife, while others are left aimlessly pondering this strange possibility.He uses strong words to describe the feelings and visions one sees when they are in their last hours and even after they have passed away. The author makes death seem like something that should not be feared and should almost be looked forward to. He then goes on to show how one should really feel when Thanatopsis tells about how when one dies the grave becomes an endless world,how the deceased become one with the earth, the trees, and everything that is great within the earth, and how when one dies they do not die alone. Throughout the poem Bryant creates images which connect death and sleep. In fact, once the reader gets halfway
" This connection between death and sleep creates a metaphor which adds depth and meaning to the poem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. Even in showing how death is wonderful he uses such powerful, descriptive words. the poem they discover that Bryant uses these words almost interchangeably. The answers to these questions reassure some readers while confusing others. In the second stanza he writes, "All that tread the globe are but a handful to the tribes that slumber in its bosom. In lines 50 and 51 Bryant writes, "Take the wings of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness. "Earth that nourished thee, shall claim thy growth, to be resolved to earth again, and, lost each human trace, surrendering up thine individual being, shalt thou go to mix forever with the elements, to be a brother to the insensible rock and to the treads upon". When identifying sleep with death Bryant gives death many characteristics of slumber. By using this strange metaphor Bryant wishes to suggest his faith in an afterlife. " The wings in this statement symbolize a spiritual, angelic being, and the morning suggests a time of waking. The afterlife begins following death, and cannot contain earthly characteristics. He tries to show that when dying instead of feeling deep sorrow and pain you will become embraced by mother nature and her calmness and it will be a soothing experience rather than a painful and devastating experience.
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