Thanatopsis
“Meditation On Death”
AMERICAN
ROMANTIC POETRY
By : Hannah Watson and Erikk Shupp
William Cullen Bryant
 Born in Massachusetts in
1794
 Composed his first verses at
the age 7
 Wrote Thanatopsis in 1813
 Appointed as Justice of the
Peace after his dad died
“Earth that nourished thee, shall claim
thy growth, to be resolv’d to earth again; “
This poem is about death and nature
(earth). It is part of humans life to die. It
does not matter how rich or powerful a man
is on earth, all of us will pass away. Earth is
the great “tomb of man" means that the
earth is beautiful and marvelous. This poem
also reads that we should be calm when our
end comes.
Movement from light to dark to light imagery
Though dark in its material (death) as a
matter is taken to be a joyous and wonderful
thing, enticing the reader by method of
“living with kings,” and the greats of the
ancient world. To be part of everything, “for
everything that breathes with come and
meet you”
“The oak shall send his roots abroad, and pierce
thy mold.”
The mold is broken, meaning that the oak tree is not
being bound by other’s thoughts about how it should
grow. In the same way, we should not let people put
us in a mold and tell us how to live a certain way.
For your entertainment only
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NwcRC_TSc0