history

“Thanatopsis” (Pg. 171)

first written when Bryant was almost 17
Meaning: Thanatos (death) Opsis (seeing) - The title presents the poem as a way of looking at death.
He added to the poem in 1821. His additions frame the poem and add an element of human comfort.

“Thanatopsis” – Stanza 1 Questions
1. Bryant inverts the opening clause of the poem. Rephrase it without inversion.
2. What literary device is used in lines 4-8?
3. Who is the speaker?
4. What is the tone?
5. What images of death are included?

“Thanatopsis” – Stanza 1 Answers
1. Nature speaks to those who commune/communicate with her/seek her out.
2. Personification – Nature is a kind lady
3. The poet/the narrator
4. Sad, gloomy
5. Shroud, pall, narrow house

SUMMARY Lines 1-17:
The speaker celebrates Nature & reflects upon her as a mirror that matches his happy moods and is a comfort when he has dark thoughts. Man should connect with Nature, listen to her teaching, & receive her “healing sympathy” when he is oppressed by thoughts of death.

“Thanatopsis” – Lines 17-57 Questions
1. Who is the speaker?
2. According to lines 25-26, what happens when you die?
3. In lines 31-37, what response is offered to those who fear the solitude and indignity of death?
4. Explain the literary device used in lines 40-45.

“Thanatopsis” – Lines 17-57 Answers
1. Nature
2. You return to the Earth - nature
3. When you die, you join everyone else who has died before you – rich/poor, royalty/common, etc.
4. Metaphor – Earth to a tomb; Nature is the tombstone

SUMMARY (Lines 17-57):
Nature offers a “magnificent couch” adorned with all the glories of Nature to the man who faces death. It is shared by kings, the wise & the good.

“Thanatopsis” – Lines 58-72 Questions
1. In lines 55-66, what particular human fear is being addressed? What comfort does Bryant offer?

“Thanatopsis” – Lines 58-72 Answers
1. The fear of dying alone and being forgotten – Everyone will die.

SUMMARY (Lines 58-72):
Dying unmourned is not important because all those who go on oblivious to the dying man’s departure will eventually share his fate.

“Thanatopsis” – Lines 73-81
1. Who is the speaker?
2. What is the tone?

1. The speaker/poet returns.
2. comforting

SUMMARY Lines 73-81:
It is important that one live with an unfaltering trust in Nature so that when death approaches, he can go to it soothed and sustained in the knowledge that it is a part of the natural course of man’s life.

MAIN IDEAS:
When facing death, you should take comfort in nature. The earth is everyone’s final resting place.
Although you will eventually lose your life, you are destined to acquire in death the companionship of all other mortals.
MORAL:
Nature’s organic cycle of birth, death, growth and rebirth affects everyone.

LITERARY ELEMENTS: Personification: Nature = a kind woman The poem is an elegy – a poem of mourning
Tone – shifts from being somber to being comforting Written in an English poetic form – blank verse, unrhymed iambic (unstressed, stressed) pentameter (5 feet)

What characteristics make “Thanatopsis” Romantic literature?
Focus on nature – source of inspiration and comfort
Focus on feeling and emotion over reason
Focus on the individual