Thanatopsis Questions
1) The Greek words that were combined were thanatos, "death", and opsis, "sight." These words contribute to the meaning of the poem because the author is looking at death and he gains sight on nature and its beauty.
2) Shroud- a length of cloth or an enveloping garment in which a dead person is wrapped for burial.
Pall- a cloth spread over a coffin, hearse, or tomb.
Narrow house- the grave
Sepulcher- a small room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is laid or buried.
All of these words contribute to the theme of death in the poem. They impact the meaning by adding the comforting nature of death to the poem and the idea that death is natural.
3) This is a poem about death because the author states that all people will die just like past kings and princes; we should not fear death, for it is a natural process
4) The tone in the first part of the poem is about nature's ability to comfort us and to make us feel better in our lives. However, this tone changes at line 31. The poem switches from a comforting view of nature to one which will ultimately kill you just like nature has always and always will do.
5) An elegy is a mournful or sad poem that is usually about the dead. One of the typical conventions of an elegy is that one of the subjects is presented as a shepherd of some sort. Another convention is that an elegy mourns the death of someone and talks of a graveyard of some sort. In the poem, nature is presented as a shepherd and talks about earth being a grave. Death of someone, an unknown person, is also talked about throughout the poem.
6) The elements of nature present in the poem are open sky (14), ocean (21), and the description of trees (33). These elements create a landscape that is awe inspiring to the reader; it fills the reader with images of the great American continent. This furthers the authors theme that nature is magnificent and also is a force that is their to comfort us despite its massive size.
7) This piece is an example of a historical piece because it occurred during the time of the Transcendentalist period when the Hudson River School was popular. This is a romantic poem because it talks about the beauty of nature and how humans have much we can learn from studying nature. This is a Calvinist poem because it relates to the doctrines of John Calvin (his views on death).
