Go Gentle Into That Good Night

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.

Another technique that Bryant uses in “Thanatopsis” is setting. This entire poem takes place somewhere in nature. However, when both aspects of the poem are looked into, the poem may also take place in the speakers mind. The speaker is using nature as a way to think about death. In a way, it seems as though nature will help make death more understandable. Bryant’s “Thanatopsis” contains specific details: Go forth under the open sky, and list/ To Nature’s teachings, while from all around--/ … /--Comes a still voice”(14-17) There are many key words in this single thought. “Go forth under the open sky” means when one dies and ascends upon heaven. Another key phrase is “Nature’s teachings.” It is what nature has to teach about death to help the speaker understand the concept of death. Also, it sets the theme for the entire poem. In lines 16 and 17 when

Death is an event most people would think of as a sad and horrible thing. In the poem “Thanatopsis,” William Cullen Bryant states how death is normal. Bryant regards death not as an end, but as a peaceful return to nature and the real world. Bryant says, “Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,” (23) which is stating the rejoining part to earth after death. The rejoining part has aspects of relating to nature and becoming one with it.

William Cullen Bryant’s poem “Thanatopsis” clearly and convincingly says that death is not a thing that should bring sadness and despair but rather joy. The first and perhaps the best argument is that a person will be among the best that humanity has to offer.In lines thirty two through thirty seven, Bryant says “ Nor couldst thou wish Couch more magnificent… With patriarchs of the infant world-with kings, The powerful of the earth… All in one might sepulcher”(Bryant,171). It is saying that the dead will be with the best and will be one of them. It is also saying that in death, it will not be a lonely experience , something that may make people fearful of death and what it brings. The second point that is

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas explores death and how those facing it should fight for their lives because death is a heartbreaking subject to him. The writer is addressing his father and pleads him to resist the power of death as it would be devastating if the father was to die from the writers perspective. Throughout the poem, Thomas writes about different traits of men. Some aspects include wise, wild, good and grave which helps create a poem that covers all aspects of a person.

Thanatopsis is a poem written by William Bryant. He combined the greek word thánatos and ópsis to create Thanatopsis. The word itself means view of death, so in the poem his opinion on death is voiced. During the time William Bryant wrote this poem, a revival of the connection between humanity and nature was happening. This poems shows that Bryant wanted to connect with death and prove its not as bad as it's said to be.

In “Thanatopsis,” a poem by William Cullen Bryant, a reader can learn that death is a trivial matter that people should not fear.

Bryant went through many hard times throughout his life; from losing family members to being socially isolated. He lost many family members and close friends. The one death that hurt him the most was his father’s. Bryant’s father was a very important part of his life; his father taught him many things throughout his lifetime. His father submitted five of his poems into the North American Review, one of those were the first version of “Thanatopsis”. It is said that Bryant mourned his father’s death and that his death is what gave him the emotional passion to write with.

At some time or another, we have all contemplated our own mortality, and asked ourselves one question. What does it mean to be dead, to truly and totally cease to exist? In William Cullen Bryant’s 1821 poem, “Thanatopsis”, or “Meditation on Death”, Bryant utilizes personification, imagery, and the overall form and organization of his verse to establish a shifting tone and explore the interconnectedness of man and nature in life and death.

William Cullen Bryant’s response to death in “Thanatopsis” is not a biblical one. Although he states “Thine individual being, shalt thou go to mix for ever with the elements” (pg 85) in reference to the biblical view of returning to dust in death, he is instead focusing on returning to earth. He starts out the poem telling of a conversation Nature has with the one who communes with her. Her voice is happy when he is happy, and when he begins to think of death, she reminds him of what he has to look forward to. All men die; wise men, patriarchs, and kings: all are buried in the one sepulcher of earth. Should no one cry at your funeral, Nature continues, they will share in the destiny of returning to earth, so there is no reason to be upset.

William Cullen Bryant’s powerful piece of work, “Thanatopsis”, relates people with the most basic form of the natural world. The title “Thanatopsis” comes from the Greek word thanatos, which literally translates to “death.” This work was published in 1817 and that makes it a part of the American Romanticism period. The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists describes romanticism as, “ imagination, rapturous response to nature, and social and political freedom, while disdaining classical rationalism, order, and respect for principles.” This connects to “Thanatopsis” because the main point of the poem is that humankind is one with nature. Bryant specifically points to when we die we become a part of nature. During this time in America

William Cullen Bryant's poem “Thanatopsis” is centered around the theme of death. Bryant manages to keep the poem joyful and uplifting trying to help young readers understand that death is unavoidable. He is able to convey the idea of death by comparing it to nature and making it much less threatening. Death is a part of the circle of life and nature is full of examples to reinforce this idea.

Atwood’s “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” perfectly grasps the life-altering heartbreak that occurs after the loss of a child by utilizing literary devices such as imagery, personification, simile, and metaphor. In the poem, an image of a voyage is used to characterize a child’s journey from life to death. “The dangerous river”, is used as a metaphor to describe the birth canal which the child victoriously navigates, but after embarking upon the outside world, the child goes into a “voyage of discovery” (4) that results in his death in the river. “On a landscape stranger than Uranus” (14) emphasizes the estrangement felt by the mother without having any knowledge of the environment. Comparing it to Uranus she describes it to be just as strange as a another planet. In the ninth stanza, the mother reminisces the death of her child as she says, “My foot hit rock” (26) which is a representation that she has hit rock bottom and her life will now never be the same. The final simile of the poem, “I planted him in his country / like a flag” (28-29) identifies the relationship between the dead child and the land. It ties the mother to the land in a way that had not been thought of, a way that is fraught with grief. An extended metaphor is developed throughout the poem, comparing the experience of giving birth that the character had, to a river and its contents. It helps to understand the different stages of birth by expressing the hurricane of emotions, and incidents that occurred with the use of waves expressing times of difficulty and pain.

    Like Jonathan Edwards, William Cullen Bryant is an American who is not afraid to share his ideas in his poem “Thanatopsis.” Born almost one hundred years after Edwards, Bryant and the Reverend had almost exactly opposite ideas regarding life and death, but both men were not afraid to express their thoughts. Bryant’s words, unlike many poets and writers before him, were not centered around religion. Bryant chose to express his true thoughts even though they were unpopular, without the fear that he would be persecuted or rejected for publishing an uncommon opinion. Instead of talking about God and heaven, Bryant’s poem focuses on the idea that “…Earth, that

Since the beginning of time, people have many different ways of going about the idea of death and what the afterlife may hold for them, whether they’ll be reunited with family and friends or if they’ll be reincarnated or, maybe nothing at all. This is true to writers and poets. In William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis”, Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” they all center their idea death, but approach it differently and convey their points differently. One glorifies death, one says life is meaningless and the other glorifies life.