Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Nature in literature
Native american literature short stories
Analyzing romantic poetry
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Nature in literature
Philip Freneau, a journalist and Revolutionary poet was enamored by the forest. He could clearly see the elements of Indian culture and was capable of seeing an emotional upheaval and mistreatment to the land and many of the native plants and animals Which lead to many famous poems including “The Indian Burying Ground,” “The Indian Student”, and of course, “The Wild Honeysuckle” (Whitcomb 171). One of Freneau’s most conscious poems, he uses Romanticism, and themes such as consciousness, time and nature to convey the concept that destiny is unrivaled. Freneau’s use of “Unpitying frost” rivals with “guardian shade” and “soft waters” to remind us that in nature there is a paradox (Freneau 399). “Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, (Freneau …show more content…
Next, introduced in lines 5 and 6, Freneau uses human activity to point out the extreme rival of beauty. “No roving foot shall crush thee here, No busy hand provoke a tear (Freneau 399).” The Honey Suckle, “hid in this silent dull retreat”, is in an isolated garden, “Untouched thy honey blossoms blow” and “Unseen thy little branches greet:” is still haunted by Nature’s inevitable expiration—“Thus quietly thy summer goes, Thy days declining to repose (Freneau 399).” The measure of expiration is constant throughout the poem, moving from season to season (Arner 58). “Untouched thy honey blossoms blow,” blow meaning to bud, could signify spring (Freneau 399). “Thus quietly thy summer goes,” The Honey Suckle is moving into summer and the brutal heat until finally moving into autumn and winter, “Unpitying frosts, and autumn’s power shall leave no vestige of this flower (Freneau 399).” As the time passes, the flower decays and the beauty fades he is “Smit with those charms, that must decay,” and grieves to “see your future doom (Freneau 399)”. More, he uses verbs to move the stories theme …show more content…
Bryant associated the wild, tumultuous aspects of nature to be a sign of God. In his works, you can see the brittle tension striking between nature and civilization (Sanford 440). “Perhaps the single greatest theme of Bryant . . . was the passage of time, charged with premonitions of the evil (Sanford 443).” In his epic, “Thanatopsis”, Bryant tackles themes such as expiration, destiny and nature. “Thanatopsis” is separated into three parts. The first section is ‘the doctrine’. Bryant uses “the narrow house” to symbolize the coffin, as he talks about mortality and the inevitability. He uses several phrases to symbolize the way Nature can speak with “various language” to calm those who were not prepared to die (Price 1). Phrases like, “She has a voice of gladness”, “gentle sympathy”, “breathless darkness”, “a still voice” (Bryant 493). Then, in line 30, he introduces the first male voice. By giving nature feminine qualities, he symbolizes the beauty of life. The second section introduces the reasons why humanity should not fear death, or believe that it is eternal isolation. “The powerful of the earth—the wise, the good, fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, all in one mighty sepulchre. (Bryant 494)” Bryant describes the beauties of nature, including “the hills rock-ribb’d”, “the vales stretching in pensive quietness”, “the venerable woods”, “rivers that move in majesty”, “the complaining
“Trees of the Arctic Circle” and “Heat” depict nature as having its faults such as the trees being a disappointment in Purdy’s case and the weather being too intensely hot in Lampman’s case but by the end of each poem find clarity is almost essential not only physically but internally. The two works give nature characteristic views as well as personification that differ from 20th century modernist works to impressionist ideals upon nature. Both poems bring out realizations in ones self within coming to terms with shifting out of the negative to a positive and demonstrating that nature is always capable bring out
Bryant explicitly shows the reader his love for nature through the poem. Lines 15-22 demonstrate this love: “The thick roof of green and stirring branches is alive and musical with birds, that sing and sport in
Nature, that washed her hands in milk” can be divided structurally into two halves; the first three stanzas constitute the first half, and the last three stanzas make up the second half. Each stanza in the first half corresponds to a stanza in the second half. The first stanza describes the temperament of Nature, who is, above all, creative. This first stanza of the first half corresponds to stanza four, the first stanza in the second half of the poem. Stanza four divulges the nature of Time, who, unlike Nature, is ultimately a destroyer. Time is introduced as the enemy of Nature, and Ralegh points out that not only does Nature “despise” Time, she has good reason for it (l. 19). Time humiliates her: he “rudely gives her love the lie,/Makes Hope a fool, and Sorrow wise” (20-21). The parallel between the temperaments of Nature and Time is continued in stanzas two and five. Stanza two describes the mistress that Nature makes for Love. This mistress, who is made of “snow and silk” instead of earth, has features that are easily broken (3). Each external feature is individually fragile: her eyes are made of light, which cannot even be touched, her breath is as delicate as a violet, and she has “lips of jelly” (7-8). Her demeanor is unreliable, as well; it is made “Only of wantonness and wit” (12). It is no surprise that all of the delicate beauty Nature creates in stanza two is destroyed by Time in stanza five. Time “dims, discolors, and destroys” the creation of Nature, feature by feature (25-26). Stanzas three and six complete the parallel. In the third stanza, the mistress is made, but in her is “a heart of stone” (15). Ralegh points out that her charm o...
Although death reigns supreme in the universal fears of man, Thanatopsis reassures the reader that death comes naturally to everyone. William Cullen Bryant uses emotion to reinforce this point. For example, it seems as if fear should be instilled by Bryant’s description, stating “When thoughts / Of the last bitter hour come like a blight / Over thy spirit” (8-10), this fear vanishes quickly when Bryant continues “Go forth under the open sky, and list / To Nature’s teaching” (14-15). Although this paralyzing thought of death washes over many, Bryant argues Nature soothes and calms this fear. Despite these emotions of terror and pain,
For each seasonal section, there is a progression from beginning to end within the season. Each season is compiled in a progressive nature with poetry describing the beginning of a season coming before poetry for the end of the season. This is clear for spring, which starts with, “fallen snow [that] lingers on” and concludes with a poet lamenting that “spring should take its leave” (McCullough 14, 39). The imagery progresses from the end of winter, with snow still lingering around to when the signs of spring are disappearing. Although each poem alone does not show much in terms of the time of the year, when put into the context of other poems a timeline emerges from one season to the next. Each poem is linked to another poem when it comes to the entire anthology. By having each poem put into the context of another, a sense of organization emerges within each section. Every poem contributes to the meaning of a group of poems. The images used are meant to evoke a specific point in each season from the snow to the blossoms to the falling of the blossoms. Since each poem stands alone and has no true plot they lack the significance than if they were put into th...
The poem “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant reveals a very unusual aspect of nature. While most people think of nature as beauty and full of life, Bryant takes a more interesting approach to nature. He exposes a correlation between nature, life, death, and re-birth. Using nature as a foothold, Bryant exercises methods such as tone, setting, and imagery in a very intriguing way while writing “Thanatopsis.”
... the end of the poem until “the rose tree’s thread of scent draws thin and snaps upon the air”, terminating life and dictating the start of another season.
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.
Not only does Bryant close the poem by calling the body to “join The innumerable caravan” (869 Bryant) that is returning to nature, but also by referencing what seems to be the soul or spirit as moving “To that mysterious realm” (869 Bryant). While it is true that some people may disagree as to what type of afterlife they believe the poem to reference. There are many others who believe it references both nature and ascension equally. A.F. Bridges who wrote “The Centenary of “Thanatopsis”” in The North American Review for the University of Iowa stated in his own analysis of the poem that the subject was “as universal as it is eternal, and it is strongly both.” (2 Bridges). Another author, A.F. Mclean Jr., seemed to be under the same opinion because he similarly wrote that Bryant “sought a mediating position between the blunt supernaturalism of Calvinism and the commitments of the deists to impersonal, natural law.” (3 McLean Jr.). The original question may have asked if the poem was referring to nature or to spiritual ascension, but there are two sides to every story and often the truth is somewhere in between. It seems that a few others have come to the same conclusion, that it is not about one or the other, but it is written in a manner that beautifully portrays the role of both nature and spirit in the act of
Poets such as Bryant have forever been trying to write their thoughts and feelings down on paper. They write their words like a painter lays their brush to a canvas. They express ideas that not only exemplify the beauty of life and nature, but also the darkest side of one’s life; death. This notion of death is what most people see as a sad ending to a life filled with beauty, though William Cullen Bryant does not see death in that way. In his poem “Thanatopsis” he offers an optimistic outlook on death. He views it as nothing more than the moment you become one with nature and venture through its beauty for all eternity. It is truly a work of art. This is shown by the use of his effective writing skills he uses skills such as, alliteration, similes and personification that make the poem come alive, just as a painter strives to make his art come alive. Also, this poem is art due to the deep thinking required to grasp its concept of death, you cannot read it just once you must read in between the lines and analyze what the poet is saying.
As “Thanatopsis progresses, the tone of nature becomes darker and more death oriented, but it still conveys a component of consolation to them. When it is said that, “Bryant had written that, although in death one may lose his "individual being . . . to mix forever with the elements, / To be a brother to the insensible rock," nature taught that one may learn to approach death with trust by living life” (Kagle 152). In this passage, Bryant is saying that once we die, our physical bodies will return to nature forever. He says that a person should prepare for death by living a meaningful life and trusting in nature. To make nature come across as a powerful force, Rio-Jelliffe states that, “Enhancing nature's grandeur heightens the attractiveness of man's final resting place, but contrarily, intensifies rather than mitigates feelings of sorrow and loss which, from the start, imbues natural objects in the body of the poem” (Rio-Jelliffe). A possible reason as to why Bryant chose a more somber tone in parts of “Thanatopsis” is for the effect of making nature appear more powerful. People both fear and respect power. The fearing of God is a prevalent part of most Puritan literature. This fear caused people to obey and trust God’s word in order to save their souls from damnation after they had died. Similarly, Bryant wants to get the reader to trust the power and grace of nature so that death will be
A person should live life without fearing death and think of death as a pleasant rest. In the poem Bryant says, "When thoughts/Of the last bitter hour come like a blight/Over thy spirit,"(8-15). This quote implies when a person fears death he should listen to nature. He also states, "So live, that when the thy summons come to join/The innumerable caravans, …Thou go not, like a quarry-slave at night, /Scourged to his dungeon."(73-78). He explains here that a person should live life without fearing death. In the following lines the poet states, "approach thy grave, /Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch/About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."(79-81). By this quote the author is saying a person should think of death as a plea...
In the first stanza, the poet seems to be offering a conventional romanticized view of Nature:
We get the idea that the poem starts out in the fall, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" (5). The season fall represents the year coming to an end, and e...
During the Renaissance period, most poets were writing love poems about their lovers/mistresses. The poets of this time often compared love to high, unrealistic, and unattainable beauty. Shakespeare, in his sonnet 18, continues the tradition of his time by comparing the speakers' love/mistress to the summer time of the year. It is during this time of the year that the flowers and the nature that surround them are at there peak for beauty. The theme of the poem is to show the speakers true interpretation of beauty. Beauties worst enemy is time and although beauty might fade it can still live on through a person's memory or words of a poem. The speaker realizes that beauty, like the subject of the poem, will remain perfect not in the eyes of the beholder but the eyes of those who read the poem. The idea of beauty living through the words of a poem is tactfully reinforced throughout the poem using linking devices such as similes and metaphors.