“Thanatopsis”
By
William Cullen Bryant
Complete the Following Sentences that are
Underlined Below.
• Death is the beginning of loneliness. I agree /
disagree because...
• Death is compared to sleep. I agree / disagree
because...
• The young and the old will have the same fate. I
agree / disagree because...
• All mankind should dread death. I agree /
disagree because...
William Cullen Bryant
• 1794-1878
• Was a young lawyer
when “Thanatopsis”
first appeared
• Inspired by the
romantic lyrics of
William Wordsworth
• Observations of nature
evoke feelings of self
• Father of American
Poetry
Based on the Title & the Questions, what do
you think this poem is going to be about?
• Maybe humans should live in harmony
with nature...
• Temporary state of life on earth
• Rejoice in the immortality of nature
• YOU MUST WRITE DOWN ONE (1)
OPINION, IN ORDER TO RECEIVE
CREDIT FOR THESE NOTES!
Thanatopsis Means
• From the Greek word:
Thanatos = Death
• Suffix: opsis = sight
• Often translated as View of
Death
Thanatopsis
• Voice:
~2nd Person (you)
• Speaker:
~William Cullen
Bryant = Poet
Mood & Tone
• Mood: Consoling
• 3 Examples from the
poem of the mood:
1. “and eloquence of
Beauty & she glides”
2. “The planets, all the
infinite hosts of
heaven”
3. “All that breathe will
share thy Destiny”
• Tone: Somber &
Compassionate
• 3 Examples from the
poem of the tone:
1. “and eloquence of
Beauty & she glides”
2. “The planets, all the
infinite hosts of
heaven”
3. “All that breathe will
share thy Destiny”
Thanatopsis
• Romantic Poem:
~He found his
answers in nature &
through observing
nature
• Poem Form:
~Blank Verse – lines
don’t rhyme, lines have
same number of
syllables & a regular
rhythm
Theme
• Subject: Human Life on Earth &
Earthly Nature
• Theme: (author’s opinion on the
subject)
~By living in harmony w/ nature, &
realizing that all must come to an
end, rather than fear it, one can come
to accept death as a restful sleep.
Literary Elements
• Metaphor: a comparison of two unlike things
NOT USING the words as, like, than, or
resembles.
~ “Old Ocean's grey and melancholy
waste,-- /Are but the solemn decorations all
/Of the great tomb of man.”
• Personfication: giving human-like qualities
/ attributes to something that is non-human
~ “…Nature holds / Communion with her
visible forms, she speaks /A various
language;” Nature = She (a caring mother).
Literary Elements
• Imagery: creating a picture in the reader’s
head by appealing to more than 1 of the 5
senses
~ “So shalt thou rest: and what if thou
withdraw / In silence from the living, and no
friend / Take note of thy departure? / All that
breathe / Will share thy destiny.”
~ “And to the sluggish clod, which the rude
swain / Turns with his share, and treads
upon. The oak / Shall send his roots abroad,
and pierce thy mould.”
•
Literary
Elements
Simile: A comparison of 2 unlike things by using the words as,
like, than, or resembles.
~ “Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, / Scourged by
his dungeon; but, sustain'd and soothed / By an unfaltering
trust, approach thy grave, / Like one who wraps the drapery of
his couch / About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.”
• Irony: when the opposite of what is expected happens.
~ “Of ages glides away, the sons of men, / The youth in life's
green spring, and he who goes / In the full strength of years,
matron and maid, / The speechless babe, and the gray-headed
man-- / Shall one by one be gathered to thy side / By those who
in their turn shall follow them.”
~The poem has a somber tone, yet encourages one to live
life fully and glorifies death.
Shifts in the Poem
• Poem shifts from a Somber tone to one
of Comfort at line 73:
~ “So live, that when thy summons
comes to join / The innumerable
caravan which moves”