Transcript William Cullen Bryant - 内江师范学院

William Cullen Bryant
(1794---1878)
Thanatopsis
To a Waterfowl
William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)
William Cullen Bryant's estate in NY
William Cullen Bryant's Homestead
I. A brief biography
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William Cullen Bryant was an American Romantic
poet and journalist.
1) Born in Cummington, Massachusetts
2) Educated at Williams College, he went on to study
law at Worthington and Bridgewater and was
admitted to the bar in 1815. Bryant worked as a
lawyer in Northampton, Plainfield, and Great
Barrington until 1825 when he married and moved to
New York City and worked for the New York Review
and then the New York Evening Post.
I. A brief biography
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At first an associate editor, he became editor in 1829
and remained in that post until his death.
3) As the driving force of this liberal and literate
paper, he was strongly anti-slavery; a founder of the
Republican Party.
4) In 1860, Bryant founded New York Medical
College.
5) In his later years, Bryant focused on translating
and analyzing Ancient Greek and Latin works, such
as The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer.
II. Major works
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Thanatopsis
To a Waterfowl
Translated works:
The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer
III. Thanatopsis
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Thanatopsis, written by William Cullen Bryant at the age of 17,
is considered to be a masterpiece of American poetry. The title
is from the Greek thanatos ("death") and the suffix -opsis
(literally, "sight"); it has often been translated as "Meditation
upon Death."
Due to the unusual quality of the verse and Bryant's age when
first published in 1890 by the North American Review, Richard
Henry Dana, then associate editor at the Review, initially
doubted its authenticity, saying to another editor, "No one, on
this side of the Atlantic, is capable of writing such verses."
Although the bulk of the poem was written at age 16, Bryant
added the introductory and concluding lines 10 years later in
1821.
III. Thanatopsis
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Bryant first wrote this poem when he was
about 17, after reading the British "graveyard
poets" (e.g. Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard" and Robert Blair, "The
Grave") and William Wordsworth's Lyrical
Ballads. In particular, there are parallels to
Wordsworth’s Lucy Poems, especially "A
Slumber Did My Spirit Seal":
III. Thanatopsis
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A slumber did my spirit
seal;
I had no human fears:
She seemed a thing
that could not feel
The touch of earthly
years.
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No motion has she now,
no force;
She neither hears nor
sees;
Rolled round in earth's
diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones,
and trees.
III. Thanatopsis
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This poem offers a democratic reconciliation with
death as the great equalizer and a recognition that
the “still voice” of God is embodied in all processes
of nature. During a busy life as a lawyer and editor of
the New York Evening Post, Bryant wrote
accomplished, elegant, and romantic descriptions of
a nature suffused with spirit.
Thanatopsis remains one of the most widely
referenced pieces of American verse, and is included
in a collection called The 100 Best Poems of all Time
edited by Leslie Pockell.
III. Thanatopsis
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2. Detailed analysis
The title Bryant chose for this poem is rather fitting,
being that "thanatopsis" is the contemplation of
death. He begins by telling the reader that if one is in
communion with Nature, then she will give him a
message. This message will tell him how to live his
life, and it will be unique to everyone else who is in
communion with Nature. By receiving this message,
he is somewhat connected to everyone in the world
who has also received a message.
III. Thanatopsis
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Anyone who is in tune with Nature will be comforted
(by Nature), and each one will be different from the
last person. Later in the first stanza, the poet advises
that if one is down and are fear-ridden, he should go
out and enjoy Nature, who will cause him to realize
happiness, because in the end, all will join Nature in
its beauty through Death.
III. Thanatopsis
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The second stanza speaks of the comfort one may hope for in
death. It refers to death as a "couch" that is greater than any
other, and it claims that one will not lie in death alone. The
poem reminds the reader that through death all will be forever
connected with the greatest men of all time around the world. It
then describes how Nature is beautiful with "The hills/ Rockribbed and ancient as the sun..." etc. Then it portrays even the
duller parts of the world (Old Ocean's gray and melancholy
waste") as decoration of man's final resting place. The end of
the second stanza ensures the reader that the dead alone reign
supreme in Nature.
III. Thanatopsis
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The third and fourth stanzas are much shorter, but
carry the overall message:
The third stanza warns the reader that if he does not
live a full and happy life, no one will notice when he
is gone. They will all live life as if nothing happened.
But to avoid depicting death as a bad thing, Bryant
then re-ensures his audience that even if one's death
goes unnoticed, all who lived that did or did not
notice the person's death, will soon join that person
regardless, for all are joined in death.
III. Thanatopsis
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The fourth stanza is intended to end the poem on a
hopeful note, and its purpose is also to drive home
the strongest point in the poem: If one lives life to its
fullest, he may embrace death with comfort and
pleasure. He may die peacefully.
This poem had three main points it wished to make,
the final one being the most important:
1) Live life fully in order to die well and comfortably.
2) In death, all are joined with Nature and with each
other for eternity.
3) This comfort and togetherness in death may only
be obtained through death.
III. Thanatopsis
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3. Questions for discussion
After reading the poem, consider the following questions.
What Greek words were combined to make the title? How do
the meanings of these words contribute to the meaning of the
poem?
---Thanatos (death) Opsis (seeing).The title presents the poem
as a way of seeing death.
Define the following words; consider the context of the poem:
shroud, pall, narrow house, and sepulcher. How do these
words and their meanings impact the meaning of the poem?
III. Thanatopsis
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---All of these words are associated with death and
burial. This furthers the idea of the poem presenting
a way of looking at death.
Is this a poem about life or is this a poem about
death? Explain your answer. Answers will vary and
should be supported from text.
The tone of this poem shifts. What is the tone in the
first part of the poem? When does the tone shift?
What is the tone after the shift?
---The tone in the first part of the poem is forbidding,
stern, final and then shifts to one of comfort.
III. Thanatopsis
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Thanatopsis is an elegy. What is an elegy?
What are the conventions of an elegy?
What elements of Thanatopsis meet those
conventions?
---An elegy must move from grief to comfort,
must shift from melancholy and mournful to
soothing and comforting. The poem says
we will not be alone when we die, etc
III. Thanatopsis
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This poem was written early in the nineteenth
century. The type of landscape art during this time
period favored sweeping panoramas, wild vistas,
untamed landscapes, and views of the sky. Look at
Thanatopsis as a visual description of a painting.
What elements of the poem are like a painting?
What images are created in the poem? What
landscape is created? Look at all of the
descriptions of nature, etc.
III. Thanatopsis
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Thanatopsis is a poem that can be interpreted
in several ways.
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How is this poem an example of a historical piece?
---It represents part of the view of the time period.
How is this a Romantic poem?
---The speaker hears the voice of nature, turns to nature for
comfort. It presents a William Wordsworth’s nature. The
recurring theme of death seems to be quite constant
throughout the genre of Romanticism. Bryant attempts to
make death a comfortable feeling, referring to the word couch
as something you can simply curl up and feel good in.
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III. Thanatopsis
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How is this a Calvinist poem?
---Look at the poem as religious counsel. Many
elements of Calvinistic beliefs are present.
IV. To a Waterfowl
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To a Waterfowl is a poem by William Cullen Bryant
that was first published in 1821. Matthew Arnold, the
eminent English critic and poet, called it the “most
perfect poem in the language”.
The reason that Bryant chooses a waterfowl of all
animals to write about is because of a special
encounter he had on the way from Cummington to
Plainfield，Massachusetts, in December 1815.
IV. To a Waterfowl
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It seems that Bryant was walking along and
noticed that the waterfowl was flying around
overhead and that he too seemed to be on a
journey alone; then Bryant began to think
that he himself was not alone. He realized
that the waterfowl seemed alone also, but he
too was being guided by some higher being
and they both would find their way.
IV. To a Waterfowl
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Bryant's poem begins with a waterfowl in flight and a
hunter below. The bird's instinct allows it to fly to
safety. In spite of the danger, hardships and
temptations on the way, the bird continues its flight to
its destination. As the speaker watches the bird, he
ponders the mysteries of migration. Bryant parallels
the bird's instinct to a "Power." Even though humans
have no real instinct to guide them to safety, there is
a "Power" or God that will guide them to safety.
IV. To a Waterfowl
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In the last paragraph of the poem Bryant seems to
be comparing our life with God to that of a waterfowl.
He says: "He who from zone to zone, Guides
through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the
long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps
aright."
He is saying that throughout our life wherever we go
God is going to be with us guiding us down the right
path. And in times when we think we must go alone,
he too will be with us then. He never leaves us long
enough for us to fall, just long enough for us to learn
from what we do.
IV. To a Waterfowl
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Questions for discussion:
1) Can we interpret the poem in any other
way? For example, can the “Power of care”
and the “He” in the poem mean anything
else?
2) What can we learn from the waterfowl’s
flight?