Are you looking for a summary or analysis of Thanatopsis? Great! This is the best page you’ll find on William Cullen Bryant’s famous poem!
First, we will give a “Thanatopsis” summary. Next, we’ll summarize some of the events that may have influenced William Cullen Bryant when he wrote the poem. After this, we’ll deliver a “Thanatopsis” analysis, line by line. Finally, we’ll discuss the meaning of “Thanatopsis” while sharing some summaries and analyses from two other scholars.
“Thanatopsis” Summary
First what is the definition of thanatopsis? It’s from two Greek words, Thanatos which means death and opsis which can means view. So the thanatopsis definition is usually stated as “a view or contemplation of death.”
The shortest possible “Thanatopsis” summary would merely be to say it is a poem concerning death. However, that not being sufficient, we’ll summarize for you each stanza.
The first stanza, lines 1 to 17, is an exhortation. We’re told that nature heals those who are experiencing melancholy over the idea of death. We’re told that if darker musings has made us melancholy, then we should go out and listen to Nature. We will hear a lesson that will console us.
The second stanza, lines 18 to 31, is descriptive. It describes death in an individualistic manner. It drives home the reality of our own mortality.
The third and longest stanza, lines 32 to 73, is also descriptive. However, here, instead of talking about death in an individualistic manner, death is given a universal form. It is omnipresent, and it is an essential part of Nature. Human beings are one with Nature, and thus they cannot avoid it, but nor should they necessarily want to, as it is part of the natural process.
The fourth stanza, lines 74 to 82, is again an exhortation. Given what we’ve learned in the third stanza, we are told to stand reconciled to death as opposed to being afraid of it.
To add to our summary of “Thanatopsis,” we’ll give a little background information on the poem. “Thanatopsis” was written probably in 1811, when Bryant was 17 years old. It was first published in the North American Review in 1817. It was published by Bryant’s father for him, and the original version lacked lines 1 to 17 and lines 32 to 44. Those lines were added much later, when Bryant was considerably older. The poem achieved a great deal of fame, and many have argued it is the first great American poem. It was heavily anthologized and read in the nineteenth century.
“Thanatopsis”: Influences on William Cullen Bryant
There has been a great deal of discussion regarding what were William Cullen Bryant’s influences when he wrote “Thanatopsis.” While we don’t think anyone can ever really pin down the specific influences, we do find at least some of them particularly mention worthy. It would take too long to list everything, but we recommend to the interested reader to check out a short autobiographical track by Bryant that wasn’t actually published until after his death. You can find this in The Life and Work of William Cullen Bryant by Parke Godwin.
Bryant was an accomplished poet at an early age. He lived in an area of town that had once been thriving but had since become depopulated—and thus appeared aged and old. He was often ill in his youth, and distinctly recalls his first encounter with death when a young friend died. Bryant not only read The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe, but many of the famous Graveyard Poets. All of this surely influenced him when he wrote the poem “Thanatopsis.”
Thanatopsis, a Line by Line analysis
Here we want to offer a line by line analysis of the Thanatopsis—or at least discuss as best we can many individual points from the poem. The problem here is that our format is limited. Reproducing Thanatopsis as a whole within this post would be quite clumsy! If you have a copy handy, we suggest keeping it near while you read our analysis. If you don’t have a copy at hand, then here is a readable image of Thanatopsis, which you can open in a separate browser window while you read our notes.
“Thanatopsis” Analysis, lines 1 to 17
Lines 1 to 17 make up the first stanza of the poem “Thanatopsis.” Here are the following points that can be made.
• This first stanza is didactic. It comes with an exhortation that tells us to do something. Line 14 specifically tells us to “go forth”. And line 14 to 15 state “list[en] to Nature’s teachings”. The stanza very directly states, go out and listen to the lessons of Nature.
• There is a conspicuous absence of any religious reference. This is odd considering Thanatopsis is about death, and given the poem was written at a time when the vast majority of people were deeply religious. We can find references to quasi-religious ideas. For example, the use of the word “Communion” in line 2. Also, in line 2 the narrator talks about “visible forms.” Does this suggest there are hidden forms? Also “Nature” is capitalized and given a very reverential treatment in the poem.
• The first stanza makes clear our topic is going to be death. In line 11 both a “shroud” and a “pall” are mentioned. A shroud is a cloth pulled over a dead body, while a pall is the cloth pulled over the coffin. Line 12 mentions “breathless darkness” and “the narrow house,” both of which could easily be references to a coffin or a tomb.
• To summarize the meaning of Thanatopsis’s first stanza: if we’re burdened by the notion of death we should go out and commune with Nature, at which point nature will speak to us and deliver a soothing message.
“Thanatopsis” Analysis, lines 18 to 31
Lines 18 to 31 make up the second stanza of the poem “Thanatopsis.” Here are some of the points that can be gleaned from reading it.
• Contrasting with the first stanza, this stanza is entirely descriptive. There is a lesson here to be learned, but it is not one that can be explicitly stated. It’s one that we can only recognize via viewing the actual situation at hand.
• For the most part the theme is about individual death, specifically, yours, which will be here in “a few days”. The “few days” mentioned in line 18 is merely a metaphor for a short time. The metaphor is used to convey how short your life is, especially in comparison to the age of the world.
• Death here is described in very individualistic terms. Words that individualize death in this stanza are thee, thou, thy, and thine, which are used through out. While this language use is lost on modern readers—there are two important points to note. One, this is biblical language. We associate this type of talk with the bible. Two, we can grammatically only use these terms when referring to a single person—not a group of people. They are very personal terms. The narrator wants us to contemplate our own personal mortality.
• There is a sense in the second stanza of one’s individuality being literally dissolved into the landscape. The phrase given on line 26 and 27, which states, “Thine individual being, shalt thou go / To mix for ever with the elements” is the theme of the passage. A question can be asked at this point, if our individual form ceases to exist, do we cease to exist? Thanatopsis might be suggesting that as part of Nature we do continue to exist even once our form is gone. However, this is not explicitly stated.
• The idea of growth needs to be addressed. Even as we die things continue to grow, endlessly and eternally. Line 23 specifically states that “Earth … shall claim / Thy growth”. This seems to suggest that the growth continues, only it is no longer individually ours, but that of those that come after. Thus, “the “rude swain” of line 29 and line 30 is given his share, with which he simply treads upon our dust—not realizing that he, himself, walks upon his own fate as it were. But taking this idea of growth being passed from us to our successors, we see that even “the oak” of line 30 and 31 will simply pierce our mold sticking its roots into us. In a sense, absorbing our growth for itself.
• Summing up the meaning of Thanatopsis’s second stanza, we can say that our situation is very grim and fraught through with peril. We are going to die and utterly disintegrate into Nature. Yet perhaps the narrator intends as a consolation that even though our form disappears, we still are an integral part of nature.
“Thanatopsis” Analysis, lines 32 to 73
Lines 32 to 73 make up the thirds stanza of the poem “Thanatopsis.” It is the longest stanza and that of the greatest importance.
• One of the main themes of this passage is that death is universal. It’s a great equalizer. Lines 35 to 37 basically lists a host of grand figures: “patriarchs of the infant world”, “kings”, “the powerful of the earth”, “the wise”, “the good”, “fair forms” and “hoary seers of ages past.” They will all die. So no matter how good a person is, no matter how rich they are, no matter how smart or how noble, everyone dies. We all eventually windup in the same spot, our bodies disintegrating into the dirt beneath our feet. Nothing we can do in life can prevent this. What’s the message of this? Is it to suggest we are powerless against death? After all, if these great people could do nothing then surely we can’t either, can we? Or is this to suggest we’re all actually in this together—that behind all our differences we’re all united via our mortality?
• Another theme that’s taken up throughout the entire passage is the notion that the world is a tomb. We’re told in line 38 that the world is a “mighty sepulchre”. Line 46 says the world is nothing but “the great tomb of man”. Line 48 refers to the earth as nothing but “the sad abodes of death.” What’s even more stunning is all the beauty of nature is condensed down to a single purpose, “solemn decorations” on this vast tomb. We must stop and reflect on this remark. Is the narrator being sardonic? Doesn’t this diminish all the great beauty of nature merely to say it’s adornment on a tomb? Despite how sardonic the remark sounds, we think the narrator actually intends us to take it at face value. Life’s purpose is death. The world has far more death in it than it does life—think of everything that has died. So it is a vast tomb. That which lives then is but the decoration upon that tomb. We agree this is a difficult notion to grasp, and we don’t think Bryant wants to denigrate life, but to celebrate it.
• There is another important theme taken up in the third stanza that needs to be carefully explored. Again and again, death is talked of as a kind of sleep. Line 32 talks about a “resting place”. Line 33 uses the word “retire” as if dying were retiring for the evening. Line 35 refers to a “couch” which is simply an older word for bed. So dying is like going to bed. In line 51, death is talked about like a “slumber” as in slumber party. Line 57 and 58 refer to the dead as those who “have laid … down in their last sleep”. Line 59 says, “so shalt thou rest” in reference to death. Line 67 talks about those dying after us as “making their bed” with us when they die. What can be made of this? Is this merely a lapse into a common metaphor for death? Or is there something deeper implied by the idea of sleep? Could something religious be implied here? We think the narrator wants to suggest that the loss of individuality into the wholeness of nature is a bit like falling asleep. We lose our individuality, but we continue on integrated with nature.
• The element of time is emphasized throughout the third stanza. We are given metaphors that help us understand the incredible age of the earth. In line 35 there’s a reference to the “infant world” which suggests we’ve come a long way since then. Line 37 talks about “ages past”. In line 39 the hills are talked of as being “ancient.” Line 49 mentions “the still lapse of ages.” Lines 56 and 57 state that “since the flight of years began” suggesting the great age of the world. Line 68 speaks of “the long train of ages.” We’re given over to believe that the world is vast in its age.
• As well as time, the element of space is emphasized in the third stanza. The world is described as being incredibly vast and varied. In lines 38 to 43 we’re given a veritable list of differing locales: “rock-ribbed” hills, “stretching” vales, “venerable woods,” rivers, brooks, and meadows. This list is topped off in line 44 by reference to “Old Ocean’s gray and melancholy waste.” This starts up again and on line 52 there is a reference to “the Barcan wilderness.” Barcan in modern spelling would be barchan and is in reference to the African desert. Line 53 refers to a “continuous woods / Where rolls the Oregon.” Here Oregon was imagined to be a river in the unexplored reaches of northwestern America. All these images are to convey to us how utterly vast the earth is. When these images are taken in with the images of time and age given above, they give the earth an image of something very old and vast.
• Finally, we’re made to feel how vast has been the history of humanity. The idea is that those who are alive today makeup but some minuscule fraction of all those who have lived before. The list we’ve already referenced from lines 35 to 37 is but the beginnings of this. Lines 49 to 51 come out and directly state, “All that tread / The gobe are but a handful to the tribes / That slumber in its bosom.” We are told of the vastness of space referred to above that no matter where we go, “the dead are there”. So there is this sense that the world has been overflowing with humanity, and at the same time, it has been devouring this same humanity. At the end of the stanza we’re given yet another list of the variety of humans that have preceded us in lines 70 to 73—this one intentionally mundane and inclusive. There is “matron and maid,” “the speechless babe,” and “the gray-headed man.”
• Of note here is how the sun and the stars are left out of this. Lines 46 to 49 seem to put the sun, the planets, and the stars (“the infinite host of heaven”), as something distant and eternal, unaffected by death and age. Can this be seen as a reference to heaven and/or God?
• To summarize the meaning of Thanatopsis’s third stanza: the world is vast and varied and old. Sure we see the life that exists now, but when we compare this to all that has gone before, this life is nothing to the vast amount of death that has taken place. The earth in reality is basically a big tomb constantly taking in new members. The beauty we see in the current crop is but an adornment for this tomb. We are perhaps to be comforted by this, because it suggests a natural process, and we are actually part of this grand process. When we die we join in with the oneness of nature.
“Thanatopsis” Analysis, lines 74 to 82
Lines 74 to 82 make up the fourth stanza of poem “Thanatopsis.” It is the final stanza in the poem.
• This stanza is like the first stanza, didactic not descriptive.
• We are given a very clear command, “go not, like the quarry-slave at night … but, sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust.”
• We are supposed to implicitly understand this message after having read the second and third stanzas and more fully having grasped the nature of death.
• This message is very opposed to the traditional Christian message which suggests for those who have been morally good, death is a passing over into heaven. There’s no mention of heaven at all in the poem. There’s no sense of a moral drama taking place. We all die and are reintegrated into the earth.
• The message presented in the third stanza is decidedly one of deism. We will discuss this more below.
“Thanatopsis” Meaning
So far we’ve briefly summarized the poem “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant. We’ve looked at some of what must have influenced Bryant when he first sat down to write the poem. We’ve also analyzed the poem carefully line by line. So the question now is this: Can we draw all this together to determine the meaning of the poem?
We think it’s important to note that if Bryant could have easily summed up what he wanted to convey as a pithy proverb he probably wouldn’t have written the poem. Moreover, we find it quite instructive to learn that when the poem was first written and published, it contained neither the first nor last stanza. The first and last stanza are terribly didactic, and we find it questionable as to whether they help or harm the poem. What’s clear is that the 17 year old Bryant wanted to share with us via the poem a message that he felt he could not deliver in any other way. He perhaps had a vision of death that he felt deeply comforting, and so he sat down to try and convey this to us via poetry. A older Bryant became concerned that we might misunderstand this vision when we read the poem, so the didactic first and second stanzas were then added, in the hope this would clarify what we are to see.
Of note is that the traditional Christian message of faith and salvation are not to be found in the poem. Nor in the poem can some Eastern message about eternal death and rebirth be found. Instead, we are just given a vivid description of the omnipresence of death and told how all of nature seems to inevitably trend toward this conclusion. Always and everywhere there is new life, but inevitably it all moves into the grand tomb that is the world. One could take the poem to be saying, this is what nature simply does, thus trust in nature, and fear it not. The poem strikes us as portraying nature from a deist viewpoint. God is inherent in nature. As opposed to asking for faith, deism asks us merely to use our senses and reason, which will lead us to an understanding of God and his ways. The poem hopes to reach us in a sensational manner such that we become sensitive to the message.
It is worthwhile here to quote Gilbert H. Muller, one of Bryant’s more recent biographers, from his book, William Cullen Bryant: Author of America, page 23:
Bryan conceive “Thanatopsis” as both an acceptance of death and an affirmation of life. Eschewing conventional religious pieties, he departed from the rigid Calvinistic codes of his mother’s family in composing a meditation on morality and the cosmos … the expanded 1821 version of “Thanatopsis” … is more deistic than Christian in its contours. … [The first lines of the poem, by] suggesting a bright rather than gloomy vision of death, prepares the readers for the poet’s affirmation of the totality of existence and our unity with the natural world.
Robert Morgan in the book, Under Open Sky [edited by Nobert Krapf] has summarized the meaning of the poem Thanatopsis as follows:
Between the wilderness and the Enlightenment, between the church clearing and the hunting woods, at the edge of the industrial age, Bryant struck his new note. Just when the savage and the true wilderness were almost gone from New England, and the faith that opposed them waning, he glanced into the forest shadows and found dignity and confidence, a stoic joy. Looking closely at the earth around him he saw a moral language of process, consonant with deism, inspiring trust, comfort, in the rational mind … The wilderness and nature are death, but mind and imagination are comforted by nature’s parallels with deity. Rather than damnation or sainthood, there is the infallible grace of community with all. Eternity and the future are transfigured beneath our feet.
We agree that Bryant experienced something religious in sentiment, and something that escaped the mold of traditional Christianity. He had a deist vision of the world as a rational unity, and as us in union with it. Yes, we die, but we all die. It is the inevitable process of having lived. We die into the earth, which in a manner of speaking is falling into oneness with our God. Is that not comforting?
We feel some will intuitively grasp this vision, and among these, some will even share it. However, many of us, even if we do intuitively grasp the message, might perhaps not feel as reconciled to it as William Cullen Bryant did. For some of us, it might not be quite enough to provide us with comfort when thoughts of death come knocking on our door.
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