Question

What effect does Bryant’s use of personification of nature have on the theme of the poem "Thanatopsis"? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.

Answer 1

Nature has a conversation with "her lover" depending on his mood. She talks to him happily when he is happy and cheers him up when he is sad. She also comforts him when thoughts of death upset him. In personifying nature, Bryant makes readers ponder how it acts as a constant companion in every step of human life, and even after death.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Nature, for Bryant, does not have much consolation to offer to the reader who is experiencing depressing thoughts about death. The best Bryant can say is that it happens to everybody and that Nature will continue to exist in all its wonder and beauty after we are gone.