William Cullen Bryant (
November 3, 1794-
June 12, 1878), US
poet
Bryant was one of the greatest 19th century American poets, best remembered for his mediation on death, nature, and spirituality, "
Thanatopsis".
Born in
Cummington, MA of
Puritan stock, he was the son of a
country doctor and politician and a woman who was a descendant of
John Alden of
Plymouth Colony. Incidentally, he was born on the same day as me and
Adam Ant. In her diary, his mother 'celebrated' his birth:
"M 3. Stormy. Wind N.E. Churned -- unwell. Seven at Night a Son Born."
As a baby, Bryant was sickly. He also had a large head, which his learned father attempted to shrink by dunking his head in
ice water each morning.
(Perhaps those two things were connected somehow, doctor.) As he grew up, his father forced him to work in the fields and take long
constitutionals to build up his strength. Apparently it worked, and on those long walks Bryant began his lifelong
communion with
nature.
His early life was dominated by the stern discipline of his father and his domineering grandfather, Ebenezer Snell. Academically, he prospered, however. He exhausted the large library of his father and was sent, at age 13, into the care of his uncle, a clergyman, to learn
Latin and later to a school to learn
Greek. At 16, he entered
Williams College as a
sophomore, but he soon left Williams unimpressed and expecting to start
Yale the next fall. His father, though no pauper, was unable to finance his classical education so Bryant abandoned thoughts of writing poetry and became a lawyer instead, a profession he suffered through from
1818 to
1825.
Poetry was the thing, though, even from his childhood. At a precocious thirteen, he penned a poem called "
The Embargo" (
1808). Heavily influenced by his father's politics, of course, it called for the resignation of President
Thomas Jefferson, and proud papa got it published in the
Hampshire Gazette. His father would also be instrumental in making his son a professional poet. He was acquainted with the publisher of the
North American Review, who asked Dr. Bryant for a contribution from his son. Scrounging around papers his son had left behind, the doctor discovered "Thanatopsis" (written years earlier when Bryant was 17) and was moved to tears, despite the poem's embracing of
pantheism and
Unitarianism and rejection of Puritanism and its
dogma. Without Bryant's knowledge, the doctor had it published in the
Review in September
1817.
Richard Henry Dana initially remarked to the publisher that the poem must be a hoax because "no one on this side of the
Atlantic is capable of writing such verses" (especially a boy of 17). "Thanatopsis" was an instant success and made Bryant famous, and thus a uniquely
American poetic voice was born. His reputation was cemented with the publication of, in
1821, his first slim volume of poetry.
In
1825, Bryant moved to
New York and gleefully abandoned his legal career (though he would return to it very briefly a few years later). He became editor of a series of publications, most notably serving as the editor-in-chief of the
New York Evening Post from
1829 to his death, 49 years. He was a champion of liberal causes like the anti-
slavery movement and trade
unions and became active in politics as a member of the
Free Soil movement and later a founder of the
Republican party and a strong supporter of
Abraham Lincoln.
Bryant, of course, still wrote poetry, eventually publishing a dozen volumes, and was an active translator who tackled both the
Iliad and the
Odyssey. As an American literary figure, he was of immense importance, as he was the first poet of the first rank to be accepted on both sides of
the pond during his lifetime. His was an American voice and he, like many other American artists, strove for an American culture that was native to the soil and not imported from abroad and imitative of
Britain and
Europe. (see his "
To Cole, the Painter, Departing for Europe")
Bryant was active in the civil life of New York City. He was instrumental in the founding of both
Central Park and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. At age 84, he delivered a speech in Central Park at the unveiling of the statue of
Giuseppe Mazzini there. He tripped leaving the podium and sustained a
concussion, which led to his death.