What is William Cullen Bryants poem “Thanatopsis” talking about?
ophelious Teacher Vocational Associate Editor $(document).ready(function() { $(‘a.toggle_expert_titles’).click(function() { $(‘#show_expert_titles’).toggle(); return false; }); }); Best answer as selected by question asker. This is actually a pretty famous poem by William Bryant, but famous doesn’t mean the same as “easy to understand.” I think I can point you in the right direction on the subject, though. I won’t go line-by-line like I usually do when it comes to analysizing a poem (Thanatopsis is just too long to do that with) but I still think I can give you an overview of the poem’s “meaning.” The theme of the poem is about death, and the author’s opinion is that one should not fear it. That seems contradictory to the first section of the poem…most of the images used paint death as being pretty unpleasant. Take a look at these quotes to see what I mean: “Of the last bitter hour come like a blightOver thy spirit, and sad imagesOf the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,And breathles
