My View On Life And Death Thanatopsis, a poem by William Cullen Bryant, tells
about how when one dies the grave becomes an endless world, how the deceased
become one with the earth, the trees, and everything that is great within the
earth, and how when one dies they do not die alone. He uses strong words to
describe the feelings and visions one sees when they are in their last hours and
even after they have passed away. The author makes death seem like something
that should not be feared and should almost be looked forward to. “When
thoughts of the last bitter hour come like a blight over thy spirit, and sad
images of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, and breathless darkness, and
the narrow house, make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart- Go forth, under
the open sky, and list to Nature’s teachings, while from all around- Earth and
her waters, and the depths of air- comes a still voice”(Bryant 153). I think
that Bryant is taking what can be considered the stereotype of what death and
dying feels like and putting it in some very descriptive and strong words. He
then goes on to show, from what I gather, how one should really feel when dying.
I think the author’s opinion of death is that it should be a happy and
relaxing experience. He tries to show that when dying instead of feeling deep
sorrow and pain you will become embraced by mother nature and her calmness and
it will be a soothing experience rather than a painful and devastating
experience. After reading this poem and seeing such strong descriptive words I
can understand and almost invision how dying could be a pleasant experience,
rather than going along with most of societies stereotypical ideas of how death
really is. “Earth that nourished thee, shall claim thy growth, to be resolved
to earth again, and, lost each human trace, surrendering up thine individual
being, shalt thou go to mix forever with the elements, to be a brother to the
insensible rock and to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain turns with his
share, and treads upon”(Bryant 153). In saying this, the author is trying to
say that when one has fully embraced death, instead of staying in a small grave
in the ground, the deceased will become one with the earth. Even in showing how
death is wonderful he uses such powerful, descriptive words. Becoming a part of
the earth and befriending all the elements sounds like a dream come true the way
he puts it. It almost seems as if this is how Bryant portrays heaven or the
after life. This is another way of showing how death should be a pleasant,
soothing experience. In my opinion, if how he describes this part of dying is
really how it is, than I would totally back him up on his point that death
should be a pleasant experience. I am undecided weather I should fear death or
if I should look forward to it. “Yet not to thine eternal resting-place shalt
thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie
down with patriarchs of the infant world- with kings, the powerful of the earth-
the wise, the good, fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, all in one mighty
sepulcher”(Bryant 153). In lines 31 through 37 of Thanatopsis, as quoted
above, Bryant says that when a deceased one lays down into his or her eternal
resting place they could never imagine such a wonderful place to lay down
forever. He continues to say, as he does in the rest of the poem, that one’s
eternal resting place could never have been thought of as such a wonderful place
that one could love so much. In a way he describes it to be a huge couch which
when you lay down upon it you just melt in and never feel like getting up, by
saying “nor couldst thou wish couch more magnificent”. The way he describes
the resting place sounds exactly like the stereotype that has also been formed
of what heaven is like, a wonderful place where you sleep in the clouds and are
joined with all of the people and things you love. In reading the poem and
writing this response I have thought a lot about wether or not dying should be
something to look forward to or to dread. When reading Bryant’s strong
descriptive words about how great dying actually is I have been swayed to think
that I should look forward to it. The way the author describes it so deeply it
has made me think that he has actually died and been there, with the elements
and with mother earth. I wonder how he could explain such a thing with such
detail and precision unless he has been there.