Thanatopsis Analysis

As I have discovered by reading many different articles on this poem, the simple title "Thanatopsis" is not a very inviting phrase. According to Randall Huff in his article in The Facts on File Companion to American Poetry, the title loosely translates to "Meditation on Death" or "View on Death." The poem also expresses the importance of nature in life. Just in the first few lines, the author personifies nature saying, "She has a voice of gladness, and a smile and eloquence of beauty" (Bryant 4-5). Bryant gives nature characteristics like a smile and eloquence of beauty to help the reader understand "her," as he would refer to it as. The poem quickly shifts from a happy feeling to the topic of death. Bryant writes in lines 8 and 9 "when thoughts of the last bitter hour come..." and the timbre of the poem drastically changes. The author gives a very interesting take on death, using great detail to describe his body's life after his death. He says,

Thine individual being, shalt tho 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 mould. (Bryant 25-30)

The passage puts a very dark twist on death. In this particular passage, Bryant strictly looked at death from a physical standpoint. The fate of his body was analyzed in this section, which is not the way many of the previous authors we have read about would have chosen to do. Authors like Jonathon Edwards may have chosen to write about his spiritual afterlife in that situation instead of the literal afterlife of his body because he was a writer during the Great Awakening, when religion was a major influence on writing. It is obvious that nature plays a huge role in this poem, and according to Huff, nature is "more teacher than companion." The point of this poem was have the reader learn a lesson that is perfectly described by Brett Barney in his literary criticism. He states that the last stanza of the poem sums up the moral of the poem.

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night...approach thy grave like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. (Bryant 77, 79-81)

This final passage from the last stanza is saying that you should live your life so that dying is not something to dread and fear, but it should be like a long awaited rest from living a great life. I can relate this idea to some of Franklin's Rationalist writings. Franklin was known for his 13 virtues that he implemented to make himself a better person, and the last stanza of this poem is aimed at good people. If you have lived a good, solid life, death will not be a bad thing, but a well deserved time of rest after being the best person you can be.

Lounsbury, Thomas R., ed. Yale Book of American Verse. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1912; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/102/. [Nov. 28].

Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "'Thanatopsis'." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0805&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 28, 2011).

Huff, Randall. "'Thanatopsis'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0402&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 28, 2011).