Question

In one word, describe how you would characterize Bryant's attitude toward death as reflected in the poem. This answer should not be based on your reaction to what Bryant has to say.

Answer 1

Bryant's attitude towards death is comforting and disturbing at the same time.

Explanation:

William Cullen Bryant’s poem, ‘Thanatopsis’ is a poem which describes life and death. Although this poem is quite a long monologue, it puts forward the concept of death in a very different manner.

Bryant have made use of words such as ‘stern agony’, ‘breathless darkness’, ‘narrow house’ to depict death. This words in itself are quite disturbing and scary.

But at the same time, Bryant have also made use of words such as ‘open sky’, nature’s teaching’ to make us comfortable and to make us realize that at one point everyone is going to die and to embrace the journey called death.