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  • Essay / Nature and Faith in To a Waterfowl by Cullen Bryant

    Bryant went through many difficult times throughout his life; from the loss of family members to social isolation. He lost many family members and close friends. The death that hurt him the most was that of his father. Bryant's father played a very important role in his life; his father taught him many things throughout his life. His father submitted five of his poems to the North American Review, including the first version of “Thanatopsis.” It is said that Bryant mourned the death of his father and that it was his death that gave him the emotional passion to write. As a child, Bryant was forced to work on a farm, spending most of his time outdoors. By spending most of his life outdoors, Bryant was able to acquire his transcendental vision of nature. Additionally, later in Bryant's life, he was unable to provide for his family and play the role of a father. Generally, a father's role is to be the breadwinner while taking care of his wife and children. Bryant did not have the means to support his family. This led Bryan to take many desperate measures to provide for his family. A bad investment in a merchant ship landed him in "debtors' prison." Debtor's prison is a prison specifically for people who cannot pay the debt they have collected. Death also played a major role in Bryant's life. He had to deal with the loss of many family members due to the typhoid fever epidemic. His experiences with death allowed him to write with different perspectives on death. Bryant struggled with thoughts of an “afterlife” that were connected to God. When he was a young child, Bryant's grandparents tried to instill their religious views in him. Through his writings, Bryant described his faith in middle of paper ......e to broaden his reading and became familiar with British philosophical writers and poets. Spanish was the next culture he immersed himself in. This immersion was made possible thanks to a meeting with a famous Cuban poet. After this meeting, Bryant began to learn the Spanish language and expand his knowledge of Spanish literature. He soon mastered the Spanish language sufficiently to be able to translate Spanish poems into English. Eventually, Bryant's own poems, "Thanatopsis" and "To A Waterfowl" were translated into Spanish and published in Spain. Bryant's interest in Spanish literature, Spanish culture and history remained constant for many decades, but was most intense early in his career. Bryant's interest in all these different cultures and languages ​​helped him expand his knowledge and only improved his writing as he now had worldviews..