Main Idea (Structure)
Three parts
Line 1-17 nature’s purifying role in human beings’ life Line 18-73 (Nature’s tone) meaning of death Line 74-82 the right attitude that human beings should take towards death
Biographical Introduction (2)
Education and working experience
Spent two years in Williams College Began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1815 Turned to journalism in 1825 and became an editor for New York Evening Post (1827-1877) Developed an interest in poetry early in life, starting to write poems at 14 During his late years, he translated Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
Theme?
Live and enjoy life fully before arriving at the final destination Calmly accept and embrace death (sweet dreams) ...
Form?
Blank verse Iambic pentameter
“To a waterfowl” (1821)
The peak of his work, best lyric poem Called by Matthew Arnold as the “most perfect brief poem in poets
A number of pre-Romantic English poets of the 18th century characterized by their gloomy meditations on mortality. Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village
Form?
Clean and tidy Iambic trimeter and pentameter Eight alternating rhymed quatrains each with an “abab” rhythm
Appreciating “Thanatopsis”
Background Information Main Idea Theme Form
William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)
American romantic poet Journalist editor
Biographical Introduction (1)
Family Background
Born on November 3, 1794 in Cummington, 州立法委员 Massachusetts Father: a doctor and later a state legislator Maternal ancestry traces back to passengers on the Mayflower Paternal ancestry traces back to the early colonists
Williams College
a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts
Major Works
“Thanatopsis” (1811-1812)
Most famous poem Influenced by the Graveyard School poets in England
Health Career: lawyer or writer (poet)?
Have you ever seen a waterfowl?
Appreciating “To a Waterfowl”
Image Theme Form
Image?
Only one image The waterfowl Definite, clear and highly unified Moral analogy
Background Information
“Thanatopsis”
Comes from Greek Means “view/meditation of death”
Question
Have you ever thought about “death”? What’s your opinion of it?
Evaluation of Bryant
The first American to gain the stature of a major poet
Serene and noble imaginative power Brief and concise language
“To a Waterfowl” -- Background Information
Composed by Bryant after a walk from Cummington to Plainfield, (Massachusetts) at the close of a day of self-doubt and despair in Dec,1815. Two burdens in Bryant’s mind
Theme?
Grateful view of the waterfowl Sense of a divine power that guides and protects everything in nature Determination in finding his own path under the guide of God …
Lecture 8
William Cullen Bryant
By 张慧
hzhang8311@
Contents
William Cullen Bryant Biographical Introduction Major Works Appreciating “To a Waterfowl” Appreciating “Thanatopsis” Evaluation of Bryant