Thanantopsis/ William Cullen Bryant

This poem was a very different kind of romanticism. There was no plane Joe who succeeded in any unlikely event. This work was addressing the fact that no one can escape death. The writer seems to highly respect death since it is equally distributed to every human being. I could not find many examples of romantic imagination in this text. The writer gave nature an actual sense of being, feelings, and a voice. "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." This poem really depicts accepting death with many aspects. It refers to returning in the earth in a positive way; "Earth, that nourish'd 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 for ever with the elements," I truly love this line. It speaks the truth in such a magical way. I see the decomposers as the true act of reincarnation. This poem also speaks the truth of how everyone decomposes the same way. "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," In other words, you will rot just as a king would in a great carcoughagus. William also addresses one of the most common fears of death. "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 favourite phantom;" No one wants to be forgotten. Let alone their death day be a joyous occasion. Either way, I really enjoyed this poem, It is one of my new favorites.