Thanatopsis (Poem) Summary
William Cullen Bryant

Thanatopsis (Poem) Overview

“Thanatopsis” is a poem written by American romantic poet William Cullen Bryant. It was originally published in 1817 in the North American Review, then revised and re-published in a larger collection of Bryant’s works in 1821. The poem is a soothing response to the fear of death as well as a love letter to nature as it describes the collective majesty and peaceful anonymity humans experience upon expiration.