Lofty Slumber: Meditation Upon Death

A good method for me to better understanding complex pieces of literature (mostly poems) is to initially digest it by giving it a full read through and then setting it down for awhile. I usually like to give myself a week of rest, as a means break down the complex structure and ideas. This allows me to read through the piece again with a fresh but familiar comprehension. I am always surprised as to how well I can then follow the work, while discovering new mind-bogglers as well.

While I've already done several read throughs of Thanatopsis, I remembered how long it was and how hard some of the lines were to interpret. I have not read Thanatopsis since we finished the Pod it was assigned to, but for the sake of better understanding a phenomenal piece of work a little better, I decided to read through once more and give my full outlook and interpretation of this wonderful piece. Furthermore, I will also provide pictures as well.

To begin, when I first read over the Thanatopsis poem I recognized the title was strikingly familiar to the character Thanatos, who in Greek Mythology, "personifies death." With a quick Google search I found that Opsis means "sight". So how I perceive Thanatopsis, and what I believe William Bryant was trying to illustrate to his readers is an introspective view of Death and how nature can effect our perception of it.

By the beginning of the poem we are told that nature has the ability to diminish the bitterness of pain within our lives. More important, nature can even change our dark/fearful outlook of death in certain ways. For example, after Bryant describes our dark internal perceptions of fear he follows with a means for remedy saying "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." This suggest when we begin to worry about death, we should listen to the voice of nature. The voice is a reminder we are not alone in death, but instead will become one with the Earth after our passing.

The voice of nature also suggest we are not alone in death, as many of history's greatest individuals have endured the same end, and we will join them in death ("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 sepulchre."). This outlook on death makes it seem a lot less like "eternal darkness in solitude" as some would view it but instead a departure from the living to join the many souls who reside in a "mysterious realm" host by the "the great tomb of man".

Bryant takes a dark turn towards the middle of the poem, which serve to represent man's deepest fear of death. Beginning with "The golden sun, The planets, all the infinite host of heaven, Are shining on the sad abodes of death Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread The globe are but a handful to the tribes That slumber in its bosom.", Bryant continues to describe a grim conception of afterlife. That afterlife may instead be a never ending realm where one resides without sound or refuge to reign for eternity alone. If this is the case, what happens in life would not matter.

Since the beginning of life on Earth, there have only been a handful that live in comparison to the billions that reside in afterlife, as they to will meet the same fate as their elders. Bryant suggest we should live life, not as a pawn of death's uncertainty, but to approach death's calling as if you would approach your bed for dream-filled sleep.