To A Waterfowl
American poet, William Cullen Bryant, has been labeled “father of American poetry.” That is a big title to a name, especially when Bryant’s 2 most popular poems were written at such a young age during his 83 year lifespan. Bryant wrote To a Waterfowl, a poem describing how God will guide everyone in life and how they should live their life the way god intended, when he was 21. He also wrote Thanatopsis, a poem describing how a person live their life to the fullest always knowing death could happen at any moment, when he was 19. Both poems were written, while Bryant so young, described his views on the subject of life and death. Practically a baby in the eyes of the Almighty God, this young poet’s ways of portraying life and death lead to the
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That practically means, Never quitting, nor ever giving in to the forces of death that awaits you in the end of your life. Bryant states in the poem, Thanatopsis, “So live… Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,” (73-77). He also describes in the poem, To a Waterfowl, “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,” (30-34). Bryant meant by saying that, that God will guide his way in life and make sure he lives his life the way God intends. Bryant lived a long life of 83 years under God’s will and power. He never quit or gave in to the temptations of death, which described his Bryant’s idea of living life to the fullest. A person should view death as the darkness of night, comparing the end of a day, as the end of a person’s life. Bryant illustrates the afterlife as a desert with endless air in the poem, To a Waterfowl, “There is a Power whose care teaches thy way along that pathless coast- the desert and illimitable air- lone wandering, but not lost,” (14-17). Bryant also illustrates the afterlife as “thy sheltered nest,” (25) in the poem, To a Waterfowl. He portrays the afterlife as the “eternal resting place… with kings, the powerful of the earth-the wise, the good… all in one mighty sepulcher,” (31-37) in the poem,
That practically means, Never quitting, nor ever giving in to the forces of death that awaits you in the end of your life. Bryant states in the poem, Thanatopsis, “So live… Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,” (73-77). He also describes in the poem, To a Waterfowl, “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,” (30-34). Bryant meant by saying that, that God will guide his way in life and make sure he lives his life the way God intends. Bryant lived a long life of 83 years under God’s will and power. He never quit or gave in to the temptations of death, which described his Bryant’s idea of living life to the fullest. A person should view death as the darkness of night, comparing the end of a day, as the end of a person’s life. Bryant illustrates the afterlife as a desert with endless air in the poem, To a Waterfowl, “There is a Power whose care teaches thy way along that pathless coast- the desert and illimitable air- lone wandering, but not lost,” (14-17). Bryant also illustrates the afterlife as “thy sheltered nest,” (25) in the poem, To a Waterfowl. He portrays the afterlife as the “eternal resting place… with kings, the powerful of the earth-the wise, the good… all in one mighty sepulcher,” (31-37) in the poem,