Thanatopsis By William Cullen Bryant Thanatopsis Literary Focus

Thanatopsis By William Cullen Bryant

Thanatopsis: Literary Focus: Theme § The theme of a poem is what the poet is saying about life. § Usually poets do not state their themes directly. – Instead, you have to think about what all the words, images, and figures of speech say to you. – The subject of “Thanatopsis” is what happens to people when they die. – What the poem says about this subject is its theme.

Thanatopsis: Reading Skill: Inverted Sentences § William Cullen Bryant often makes use of inversion, a rearrangement of the usual word order in sentences. § The usual order of words in Standard English sentences is subject, then verb, and then object: Reika kicked the ball. § An inverted order might be: The ball Reika kicked. § If you have trouble understanding sentences in the poem, try rearranging the words.

William Cullen Bryant § William Cullen Bryant was a Romantic Poet. § In his time that title did not refer to a person who writes poetry about love. – Instead, it referred to a poet who shows an emotional response to life. – Romantic poets placed feelings above thought. – They valued poetry and rural life above science and the city life. – They believed that studying nature outdoors could bring as much truth to humans as doing scientific experiments. – “Thanatopsis” is a nature poem in which Bryant presents his view (opsis, in Greek) of death (thanatos).

Thanatopsis: Poetic Form § The poetic form that Bryant uses for “Thanatopsis” is blank verse. § If you look at the lines of the poem, you will see that the lines do not rhyme. § Most lines have the same number of syllables and a regular rhythm.

Thanatopsis: Into the Poem § William Cullen Bryant was in his late teens when he wrote his first draft of “Thanatopsis. ” § He was looking for answers to how to accept death. § He finds his answers in nature. § He observes that when we die, we become a part of nature, along with everyone else who has already died and everyone who will die.