Thanatopsis Questions

1. Thanatops and Opsis were two greek words put together to form the word thanatopsis. This word means view of death which contributes to the meaning of the poem because even when we die, we view nature as a place needed to be protected.

2. Shroud-An item used to cover up and protect something.
Pall-A cloth spread over a coffin or a dark cloud
Narrow house-Grave
Sepulchre-A grave or burial place
All of these words impact the meaning of the poem because of the poets main purpose of including the thought of death into his poem.

3. This poem talks a lot more about death, however it could also be about life as well due to the times that it talks about all of the nature and the need to protect it.

4. The tone at the beginning of the poem is of grief, however the tone shifts to a more comforting feeling.

5. An elegy is a poem of serious reflection. The conventions of an elegy is when a poem shifts from grief to comfort, and the poem Thanatopsis does this because of the deep descriptions of nature and death throughout the poem.

6. The decription of nature and all of his surroundings are like a painting. He describes images of water and of air which let's the reader feel as if they are there. The landscape is very natural and even though there is death and sadness you still have nature and the streams in nature which represent the beauty.

7. The poem was historical because it was written in the early 19th century. The reason this is a romantic poem is because the poet reflects on his individual feelings, and focuses on the supernatural and is concerned with dying and creates frightful emotions. Thanatopsis is a Calvinist poem because Bryant was in the Calvinist environment and it was part of the poem and in the poem.