Thanatopsis Analysis

To him who in the love of nature holds

Communion with her visible forms, she speaks

A various language; for his gayer hours

She has a voice of gladness, and a smile

And eloquence of beauty; and she glides

Into his darker musings, with a mild

And healing sympathy that steals away

Their sharpness ere he is aware. When thoughts

Of the last bitter hour come like a blight

Over thy spirit, and sad images

Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,

And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,

Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;--

Go forth, under the open sky, and list

To Nature's teachings, while from all around--

Earth and her waters, and the depths of air--

Comes a still voice. Yet a few days, and thee

The all-beholding sun shall see no more

In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,

Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears,

Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist

Thy image. 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 sluggish clod, which the rude swain

Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak

Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold.



Yet not to thine eternal resting-place

Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish

Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down

With patriarchs of the infant world -- with kings,

The powerful of the earth -- the wise, the good,

Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,

All in one mighty sepulchre. The hills

Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun, -- the vales

Stretching in pensive quietness between;

The venerable woods -- rivers that move

In majesty, and the complaining brooks

That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,

Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste,--

Are but the solemn decorations all

Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun,

The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,

Are shining on the sad abodes of death

Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread

The globe are but a handful to the tribes

That slumber in its bosom. -- Take the wings

Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness,

Or lose thyself in the continuous woods

Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,

Save his own dashings -- yet the dead are there:

And millions in those solitudes, since first

The flight of years began, have laid them down

In their last sleep -- the dead reign there alone.



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. The gay will laugh

When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care

Plod on, and each one as before will chase

His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave

Their mirth and their employments, and shall come

And make their bed with thee. As the long train

Of ages glides away, the sons of men--

The youth in life's fresh 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.



So live, that when thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan, which moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained 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.

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All yall is stupid.I came here for help and find this idiotic argument going on. I dare you to criticize my comment.

| Posted on 2009-11-21 | by a guest

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Thoughts on x is a poem written by a famous writer by the name of William Cullen Bryant. This poem is all about nature and how nice it is. In addition, this poem is about death and how death is not the worst option. This poem is about death as it offers a peaceful view of death and comfort for the living. William Cullen Bryant shows his views of death of in this poem, however, not directly.
Bryant views death as part of the return to nature, like death is just another phase of life itself. ``Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim / Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,” (Bryant 263). Bryant is saying that as a person has lived upon the Earth, the Earth will now live upon that person. The person will live on, but in another way. “Surrendering up / Thine individual being, shalt thou go / To mix forever with the elements,” (Bryant 263). What Bryant is trying to say is that the person goes on living in Nature although each part of the person as an individual is gone. Bryant also tells the reader that he /she will not go to death alone. Everyone who has ever died will already be there. Everyone who has not gone yet will be there eventually. Social class or age does not matter, one thing is shared, and that one thing is death. In that way, all are equal and death becomes the great equalizer.

| Posted on 2009-11-19 | by a guest

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For one to truely understand the beauty displayed in his works you have to understand how he was and what he comes from. If you don't like it simply accept it, but dissapproval shows a lack of intellectual desparity and an over abbundance of immaturity. One day you will understand the depth he goes through to write this piece or art, and then you can fully appreciate what he has done.
JUNIOR EPHS

| Posted on 2009-11-18 | by a guest

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THANK YOU to the ONE person who HELPED explain the poem in detail.
This really helps me and other students who have a perspective that makes it difficult to understand bryant's work.

| Posted on 2009-11-18 | by a guest

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Ugh, trolls. Anyway, I first read this poem in the tenth grade, and immediately it clicked for me, though I understand many may have trouble with understanding its significance. Thanatopsis itself means 'a view of death' in simple terms. This poem is very enlightening with its intricate detail of Thoreau's opinion of death, and what comes after. As a transcendental writer, he involved nature deeply in this writing as an explanation that after life is done, we return to the earth as we came from it. He says this with,
" Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thie individual being, shalt thou go
To mix forever with the elements,
To be a brother to the insensible rock
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 mold. "
He also expresses that when one dies, they should go willingly into death, rather than dread it. All in all I personally find this poem to be very intellectual and deffinetly offers more than what meets the eye.

| Posted on 2009-11-18 | by a guest

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if its hard for you to understand this poem after reading it 2-3 times already... then there must be a problem... whats harder to understand is why do people keeps on cursing each other with senseless words on this webpage. william is a great poet after all.

| Posted on 2009-11-17 | by a guest

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you are right. i actully dont have junk OR nuts. and im really fat

| Posted on 2009-11-16 | by a guest

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you know you dont have anything down there. but you still are fat

| Posted on 2009-11-16 | by a guest

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Y'ALL CAN LICK MY BIG FAT JUNK N' NUTS
FAGS.

| Posted on 2009-11-16 | by a guest

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how annoying are all of you just shut up and read the poem and like it dorks

| Posted on 2009-11-14 | by a guest

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So yeah, I'm in Honors English, this is quite challenging. I've continuously reread this poem, and it still hasn't clicked. I've got some good ideas of what it means though. Thanks.

| Posted on 2009-11-11 | by a guest

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I do not get this poem at all if someone would really summarize it instead of being immature, maybe it might help me and others to actually understand it.
Thank You

| Posted on 2009-11-11 | by a guest

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This poem was hard for me to understand at first, but once you read a summery AND THEN read it again, you realize how clever Brayant is. Bryant tries to show that life and death can be explained through nature He expresses the beauty of nature as well. He does this with Imagery and Allusion.

| Posted on 2009-11-11 | by a guest

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Wow, okay first off how this goes out to the five year old: too bad nobody here cares about you or your stupid country, and to the stupid high schooler that's telling us to not look like idiots, check your spelling you idiot, you spelled ridiculous wrong...you freaking hypocrite...

| Posted on 2009-11-10 | by a guest

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Is this in iambic pentameter?
Though I understand what the poem is about I do not recall the style it is written in.

| Posted on 2009-10-30 | by a guest

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Well, if you're such an intelligent "five year old" you probably shouldn't be criticizing America when you should be posting an analysis, but you failed to do so.
In this piece, the author is looking to nature to describe life and death and to introduce the beauty of nature to those who rely on civilization. Bryant believes he will guide the reader to an understanding about life, death and rebirth.

| Posted on 2009-10-21 | by a guest

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I am a five year old from the Czech Republic who has mastered 6 tongues. You silly Americans can barely understand the works of a poet who excels in your first language. I suggest you do some deep reflection and then try to boost your rapidly declining I.Q. level with the easy version of Sudoku. It amazes me that people have yet to answer any of the previous questions clearly or correctly. To those wishing to analyze metaphors, how about you look up the definition of a metaphor and then apply it (genius)! In addition, if you feel the need to nag about works of literature then perhaps you should compose your own piece and analyze it for its many faults.

| Posted on 2009-10-19 | by a guest

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No you are wrong j-dub. GREEN DAY is a much better band than BLINK 182!!!?!!!

| Posted on 2009-10-18 | by a guest

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BLINK 182 IS THE BEST BAND IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! - JDUB

| Posted on 2009-10-13 | by a guest

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It's not hard to understand it's a beautiful piece in which the writer delivers to the reader a calming reassurance that no matter who you are or where you're from there is no reason to fear death or to question it's outcome. We will all be laid to rest in "the great tomb of man". I love this poem. ;)

| Posted on 2009-10-11 | by a guest

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Wow, too many negative comments... Yes, this is a difficult poem to understand. As a Junior taking AP English, even I am finding it hard to comprehend. I'm not here to critise the poem, like a quite a few people are... I'm here actually to ask for help on trying to decipher the imagery. I know there is a lot of it, my English teacher warned us when she assigned it to us. However, the poem is deep and complex, that I cannot figure out where the imagery begins or ends, unless the entire poem is imagery.
I'll admit that I do find it somewhat frustrating but, I'm not going to rant on and on about "how stupid and riddiculous" it might be. It's just a challenge that people need to be willing to meet. I dunno, maybe it just me, but people complaining about something they can't change are being childish.
But, anyway, if anyone one could help me a bit with the imagery, that would be really helpful considering I need it for tomorrow. I also, have to say, that I have read it and have already attempted to find the imagery myselft. Now, I just need a bit more help and guidance. Cheers!

| Posted on 2009-10-07 | by a guest

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Alot of negative views on this particular poems, deism and romanticism are certainly not stupid. No real perspective of the world is, whats right and wrong is only what a person percieves to be right and wrong. Personally if your going to get riled up here then go post on a hate forum, some people actually come here to learn not complain.
Bryant's poetry is a bit difficult to understand at first but his view is expressed through his beutiful complex words in a very nice fashion. This is actually, I believe, Mr. Bryant's most famous, and most criticized poem.

| Posted on 2009-10-06 | by a guest

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I see that there are many highschool students who have decided to post things. Rather than make all of us( high schoolers) look rediculas, uneducated, and pathetic, please at least use correct grammar to make a comment. Maturity boys and girls. Thanks -an 11th grader named shelbi

| Posted on 2009-10-05 | by a guest

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all I can say is that Bryant is an amazing writer and anyone who critizes his work must not fully understand it. Bryant gives his readers a view of death that has never been seen before. His use of Imagery is remarkable.

| Posted on 2009-10-01 | by a guest

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When the ripe fruit falls
its sweetness distills and trickles away
into the veins of the earth.
When fulfilled people die
the essential oil of their experience enters
the veins of living space, and adds a glisten
to the atom, to the body of immortal chaos.
For space is alive
and it stirs like a swan
whose feathers glisten
silky with the oils of distilled experience.
D.H. Lawrence

| Posted on 2009-09-29 | by a guest

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"For the idiot that posted before I" u may think u sound proper but u dont... its: posted before me, anyways this poeam is full amazing literary techniques u just have to know where to look, or really read it.

| Posted on 2009-09-29 | by a guest

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KAY yeah ima junior in high school hahaha and yeah first of all, poems are stupid, second of all, what is the point of them, when they dont make sense, and third, i hate reading, stupid poems ! i dont get the stupid summary of this!

| Posted on 2009-09-28 | by a guest

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I looked up this poem because it stuck with me some 50 years. When we were assigned the poem, I simply devoured the imagery. Everything is so clear and real that it seems readers ought to be able to see every image unfolding,happening as in real life. I thank my high school teachers for opening up what I may not have at that young age, but what I can visit at a more mature stage. They challenged me, and it paid off. I taught in high school, teach now in college, and write because I love it. I also find pleasure in all sorts of mental challenges.
Don't fight learning or being exposed to something different because you're not ready for it. Don't be dragged to newer heights kicking and screaming-- a higher level is not a dungeon. Accept freely the chance to grow, much like the message of "Thanatopsis." When you're at an age to appreciate it, who will offer it then? And, if someone did, would you accept it?

| Posted on 2009-09-12 | by a guest

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You people are absolutely ridiculous. High school english classes are not difficult at all. Quit being lazy and do your own assignment. And if you trust a couple comments on the internet about the analysis of a poem instead of taking 20 minutes of your day to read it yourself, you deserve to fail. Your lives in high school are consumed with school, sports, going out on weekends, and maybe a job. It isn't like you have a family to take care of, so you all have plenty of time to do the assingnment yourself.

| Posted on 2009-09-08 | by a guest

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wow why is everyone being so retarded!!! It's just a poem... It's not that great! I am 16 and I think everybody on this website needs to grow up!

| Posted on 2009-08-27 | by a guest

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I first read this poem in high school many years ago and found it so wise and inspiring. The message of the last nine lines has stayed with me all my life and has prompted me to try to live life as fully as possible so that I may depart this world with as few regrets as possible. I truly hope that at least some of the young people who may struggle a bit with the language of Bryant's day will take the time to discover the beauty and depth of this remarkable poem. I think that those who do so will find it very rewarding. And, yes, it is a poem, as others have explained.

| Posted on 2009-07-17 | by a guest

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Have to point out that just because you don't understand it doesn't mean Americans 200 years ago didn't. Death, religion, and nature were common themes during this period.
and yes it is a poem (with perfect iambic pentameter, look it up if you don't know what it means but it is a pretty big deal and thats the reason why this is considered a POEM even if it doesn't RHYME) about death and seeking comfort through nature's beauty and presence. hopefully I don't need to inform you of the idea that God is present through Nature, which was a common theme for poetry for American Romantic poets. there are also themes of "re-birth" by having the opportunity to "mix forever with the elements" after death("dust" to "dust").
I cant believe you don't find this poem insightful. and for those that don't, I'm sorry you were forced to take 5 minutes out of your busy life to read a page of literary prose authored by a man who was a long time editor of the New York Evening Post, an influential supporter of Abraham Lincoln, helped establish New York's Central Park (you might have heard of it), translated the Iliad and Odyssey into English (probably the best versions we have) and single handedly put American literature on the map--a feat which we were previously considered too inferior to even warrant international consideration.

| Posted on 2009-07-14 | by a guest

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what are the literay devices in this poem. I have to write a 5 paragraph paper on this poem, but I do not know where to start or what to say. Can someone please help.

| Posted on 2009-04-27 | by a guest

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first of all how can you down an american poet as good as him? all of you must not understand the passion in this poem.and so what if it doesnt rhyme? you people are ignorant!

| Posted on 2009-04-24 | by a guest

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Yes... I admit to being a high school student in school... except my problem was just being lazy. :p
But I read the poem before reading everyones analysis's. And it was blatently clear to me that the author was talking about death and how it treats everyone equally, I didnt take the time to read what everyone is arguing about, I just saw a bunch of senseless namecalling and whatnot. It is a poem about death in the authors view, its his opinion, his poem. End of conversation.
-Pillz- Monacan H.S.

| Posted on 2009-02-12 | by a guest

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You people are weird. Why in the world are you arguing about something like this.
What's the point?
Geez, for pete's sake. The poem's made by someone who did not clearly intend for us students to suffer. And HELLO. If ever Cullen Bryant's alive, i bet that he need not our opinions nor our criticisms because he made this for himself alone and he wouldnt be stupid enough to make us suffer with such poems that were completely misunderstood by many or perhaps only logical enough or people who can read between the freakin lines could understand this.

| Posted on 2009-02-04 | by a guest

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all yall act like dam kids arguing about this poem, everbody has their own opinion, and you aint gona change it. and its pretty bad that a 10th grader is tellin yaw this

| Posted on 2009-01-29 | by a guest

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This poem was a beautiful piece of writing. He used his imagination and suroundings to illustrate a picture in your mind. This poem was about embracing death, and not fearing what may come. You use nature when your feeling low. No matter what, she will be there for you, and she will accept you. It actually amazing. My english honor teacher was smart to make us analyze this poem.

| Posted on 2009-01-23 | by a guest

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Thanatopsis means "A view of death" or "A vision of death". So... this poem is about death. What Bryant is trying to say here is:
Many think of death to be a bad thing
The earth will reclaim you, and you will nourish the living
Everyone, even kings and their servants are equal in death
Everyone will die
Life will move on without you
Live your life to the fullest
Look at death optimistically

| Posted on 2009-01-19 | by a guest

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Well I have to memorize the enitre poem in 4 days over the weekend to write it for my teacher on Tuesday.

| Posted on 2009-01-16 | by a guest