Comparing Romanticism In Mann And Thanatopsis Bryant

The romantic era was a time in literature where nature was seen as beauty and a refuge. We saw a shift within the arts from being more impersonal to have a warmer and friendlier aura. The romanticism movement was one that made everything beautiful and glorious. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Cullen Bryant are well known for the romantic themes in their works such as thanatopsis from Bryant and Nature from Emerson. However, this wasn’t always a good shift as seen in the romanticism in Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Longsworth.

In Thanatopsis Bryant speaks about how all that is bleak is made light through her (nature). “To him who in the love of Nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks

A various language;

for his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty,” In this passage he is saying that nature will change her reflection to alleviate the darkness man feels inside. He is saying that when troubled nature will always have a solution for his problems. Further down the poem he says “The powerful of the earth--the wise, the good, Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, All in one mighty sepulchre.--The hills Rock-ribb'd and ancient as the sun,--the vales Stretching in pensive quietness between; The vernal woods--rivers that move In majesty,” Here he is saying that even in death the place you will go will be beautiful because it is nature still and you are now a part of it.

In Emerson’s Nature he talks about how a person must go into nature to really be one with themselves. “One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime,” in this quote he speaks of how nature was kind and gave the world the stars to look at so that they may be reminded that they are not alone in the world. Later on in this piece Emerson switches to the topic of wisdom being held by children. “The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.” This statement goes to say that children are the wisest of all people due to the fact that they pay attention to nature and hear what nature is saying than adults due in their busy lives.

In the Henry Longsworth piece about Paul Revere he makes it seem like Revere was the only man to assist in the awakening of the towns and gathering up the armies. In fact, it had multiple people working together to avoid getting caught and alerting those who were going to fight to get ready. This group effort was what allowed the colonists to win for if it had been just Revere nothing would have continued after he was captured.

In conclusion romanticism was a movement that was deeply rooted in nature. It followed the beliefs that nature was beautiful and everything good in the world, and that if anything was wrong to look to nature to find how to fix it. Examples of this were seen in Emerson's and Bryant’s writings. It also made stories more heroic and beautiful than in real life glossing over truths to hide any hardships, such as was seen in Paul Revere’s Ride.