Death in Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant Essay

That’s the thing about death: it sneaks up and robs a person of their life, taking away all of their happiness. People indulge themselves in the idea of fearing death rather than facing it. Death is an unknown territory where no survivors have ever came back to share their experience. The US Army Private, Roy Scranton’s article “Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene” shines hope where he explains how fear can be conquered if the idea of dying is accepted. It is fear that paralyzes people from moving toward the idea of death. If people started to embrace the present, they will understand the inevitability of death and start discrediting fear.

Chuck Palahniuk once said, “The first step to eternal life, is you have to die.” In William Cullen Bryant’s poem “Thanatopsis”, he does not mention eternal life or anything religious, but speaks about death. He tells his readers that death is a natural thing and they should not worry about it. William Cullen Bryant, in his poem “Thanatopsis”, portrays a comforting view of death. Throughout the poem, Bryant encourages his readers by explaining that in death they are not alone, that death, like life, is a natural process, and that they will be among some of the finest people who walked the earth.

This is a long variation upon “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Bryant is pointing out how a body returns to nature in death. You shall, upon dying, nourish the Earth that once nourished you. In doing this, he creates a smooth transition between human and nature and then melds the two together.

This poem talks about nature and death. William Cullen Bryant shares that nature can make death less painful. He says that when we start to think about death, we should go outside, and look around and listen to the natural earth sounds. This is supposed to remind us that when we die, we will mix back into the earth. The poem tells us that when we die, we will not be alone. We will be with every other person that has ever been buried, In the ground, which in this poem is called the “great tomb of man”. It also tells us that even those that are still living will soon die and join in the great tomb of man. This poem is meant to comfort those that are afraid of dying and death in general. At the end of the poem, we are told to think of death as

poem many readers are able to reaffirm their faith of an afterlife, while others are left

The way I percieve death is that it is absoulute and no living thing can ever escape it. Nor should we be afraid of death it is simply a

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” (Mark Twain). This quote from the famous American writer is the basis for what became one of the hardest ideas to comprehend, death. Death has always been a complex term, causing one to struggle with what the true definition is. It is also hard to wrap your mind around what does it truly mean to die. These are the questions we long for the answer. Whether we acknowledge it or not, death has always been feared by many. Death remains an impossible question, one that has been unexplained since beginning of time. Even though dying is a natural, we as a human race still fear it. What can be done to defeat this never-ending battle? According to Montaigne’s “To Philosophize is to Learn to Die” and Cory Taylor’s “Questions for Me About Dying” we can overcome this by living to the fullest, living with no regrets, living a legacy, and lastly not fearing the inevitable. If you want to conquer the question of life, live in the moment.

“The fear of death flows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time” By Mark Twain. If a life is lived fully then the owner of the life will be prepared to die at any time. The way a person lives their life determines how accepting they are of death. In The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury the topic of accepting death plays a major role in the characters’ lives.

Death is the most inevitable and unknown aspect of life. It is unescapable, and by most of today’s population, it is feared in the utmost regard. Our materialistic views and constant desertion of religious ideals has forced our society to view death as an ultimate end. Socrates and St. Augustine’s views on death differ from many views on the subject in 2017, however, for their time, these men had the power to influence a plethora of individuals with their theories. For Socrates, death should never be feared and should be considered a blessing if our souls were to ascend to heaven, or death could be an extensive slumber without any dreaming whatsoever. With

Many people seem to fear death, but philosophers such as Socrates and Epicurus would argue that one has no reason to fear it. Socrates sees death as a blessing to be wished for if death is either nothingness or a relocation of the soul, whereas Epicurus argues that one shouldn't worry themselves about death since, once we are gone, death is annihilation which is neither good nor bad. Epicurus believes that death itself is a total lack of perception, wherein there is no pleasure or pain. I agree with Epicurus because Socrates doesn't give a sound argument for death as a blessing, whereas Epicurus' argument is cogent. I would also argue personally that death is not something to be feared because, like Epicurus, I see no sufficient evidence

People dread about death for several reasons: they hardly know what to expect from death and they fear not finishing certain things in life. Epicurus believes that people no longer exist when they die. Death is not painful now because we are not dead and it will not be painful when it comes because we would not exist to experience it. Thus, death is not an experience to fear about at any point in life.

But, when taking a closer look it is easy to see the beauty that Bryant associates with it. Under no circumstances can a person live forever because death is an inevitable occurrence. There is no need to try to avoid it or dread it. One example of the beauty of death would be “The globe are but a handful to the tribes. That slumber in its bosom. Take thy wings of morning and the Barcan desert pierce, or lose thyself in the continuous woods where rolls the Oregan” (Bryant 50-53). This quote is an explanation of all the places a person can be after death. The very end of the poem switches to an optimistic, upbeat tone. The ending sends the message that people should “live”(74) and not be a “quarry-slave”(78) to death (Budick). It gives an ironic feel because of how depressing the poem sounds, and yet it is telling us to live a full happy

Death is a idea that no one ever really wants to talk about, but it happens to everyone. Death is the end of life for some, and only the beginning for others. At some point in every persons life, they come face to face with death. It could happen to any one person at any set time, only God knows when it is our time. Some people might be old, or it could be that they have been in a tragic accident at a young age. For some people, death might be scary to think about or it might even give some people stress and anxiety. The thought of death often throws people into complete stress mode, and it should not because no one should ever be afraid of anything. Fear of death will only make you stress about things in life and cause you to miss out on many opportunities during life itself. But what is is that we are all scared of? Are we scared of where we go when we die, the pain of dying, or the thought of not knowing when we are going to die?

These feelings or abundance and well-being, according to Mark Bracher, make it quite simple for the reader to look at death calmly and accept their own mortality as consequence of a rich and fulfilling life (Bracher 1990, 634). Bracher accuses the poem of pretence