Who wrote Thanatopsis?

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Multiple Choice

Who wrote Thanatopsis?

Authorship is what this item tests. Thanatopsis is a landmark piece of early American Romantic poetry that treats death with the calm perspective of nature. William Cullen Bryant is the poet who wrote it; he was an American writer active in the early 19th century, and this poem captures his use of nature to console in the face of mortality. The title itself signals a philosophical look at death, drawing on Greek roots for “a view of death.” The other poets listed are known for different works and themes—Longfellow for later 19th-century verse, Poe for gothic lyricism, Emerson for essays and transcendental poetry—so they aren’t the author of this particular poem.

Authorship is what this item tests. Thanatopsis is a landmark piece of early American Romantic poetry that treats death with the calm perspective of nature. William Cullen Bryant is the poet who wrote it; he was an American writer active in the early 19th century, and this poem captures his use of nature to console in the face of mortality. The title itself signals a philosophical look at death, drawing on Greek roots for “a view of death.” The other poets listed are known for different works and themes—Longfellow for later 19th-century verse, Poe for gothic lyricism, Emerson for essays and transcendental poetry—so they aren’t the author of this particular poem.

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