Essay Questions

How can Bryant’s poem “I Cannot Forget with what Fervid Devotion” be interpreted as a dedication to fellow poet William Wordsworth?

In this poem, Bryant reflects upon the immense and overwhelming beauty and power of the natural world. At the same time, however, he realizes that his footsteps—the very path he walks through the woods—all ironically contribute to the degradation of the very nature he’s become so fond of. This is very similar to the themes that can be found in most of Wordsworth’s own poems. Wordsworth devoted much of his literary and poetic time to exploring how humanity value and respects nature less and less; urban expansion is destroying hundreds of thousands of years’ worth of God’s natural world. These same sentiments are reflected in Bryant’s own poems.

What does the titular bird in “To A Waterfowl” represent for Bryant?

In this poem, Bryant follows the lone flight of a waterfowl bird. He explains the bird’s path and explores how the bird sees all that moves below it. Due to evolutionary instincts, it never questions its path and always intrinsically knows the correct way to fly. In this way, Bryant is drawing a parallel between this bird and the faith that one must have in God and God’s plan. Just as the bird must trust its intrinsic, guiding instincts, so too must followers of God trust in his plan and use their faith-based instincts to follow His path. This metaphorical allegory is used to help readers feel content in the knowledge that they may not know where their journey will end, for God is guiding all creatures on Earth—including the waterfowl.

Why are so many of Bryant’s poems dedicated to the concept of death?

Some of Bryant’s most beloved and well-known poems—"Hymn to Death,” “The Death of the Flowers,” and “The Death of Slavery”—all include the word ‘death’ in the title. Many of his other poems, though they do not contain the word ‘death’ in the title, also explore this abstract concept. In “Abraham Lincoln,” for example, Bryant idolizes President Lincoln and explore how, in death, the 16th President’s legacy will be forever entombed in American history. In short, it is clear that Bryant has devoted a deep, personal interest in the concept of death. This may be due to Bryant’s own experiences with familial death. For example, “Hymn to Death” is a eulogy to Bryant’s deceased father, while “The Death of the Flowers” is a memorial dedication to his deceased sister. In this way, it is likely that Bryant’s life had been deeply touched and altered by the death of his father and sister, that he felt compelled to explore this concept and share his explorations with his readers.