The Romantic Period was a period from the 1800’s to the 1840’s. It is also known as romanticism and is a form of writing that uses escape and imagination. Many people would read it to escape the horrible conditions that were their reality, it caused them to use their minds and imagine a place away from the city and out in nature. Romanticism also usually has one hero who is strong, cunning, and can escape any danger without a scratch on him. The writers in this period were Oliver Wendell Holmes who wrote “Old Ironsides”, Henry Wordsworth Longfellow who wrote “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” and lastly William Cullen Bryant who wrote “Thanatopsis”. In all three of these poems “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant and lastly Henry Wordsworth Longfellow with “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” the common theme is represented through death.
In the poem “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, the topic is death and it is described as patriotic and dying for your country. One of the specific topics that Oliver Wendell Holmes uses in “Old Ironsides” is patriotic death of the boat. This is shown when he writes “Her thunders shook the mighty deep, and there should be her grave; Nail to the mast her holy flag” (Holmes 19). Holmes explains that she was the best ship they would ever have and on her grave there should be a flag to show patriotism. Another topic that Holmes uses in “Old Ironsides” is after the boat dies or is destroyed they sailors just toss her aside. Holmes shows this when he writes “Set every Threadbare sail, and give her to the God of storms,--The lightning of the gale!”(Holmes 23) This quote tells how after she is gone they rid of the boat because she is no use to the men anymore. Lastly the finial topic is how the men honor her because of all the good deeds she did to help the men before her death. This is shown when Holmes says “Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood, where knelt the vanquished foe” (Holmes 9). Holmes is showing her remembrance by retelling all of the things the men would not have been able to have done if she had not had been around to help. By the end of the poem the boat is dead and remembered for the conquering of the enemy, but it tossed aside soon to be replaced by another victor.
In the second poem “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow also have the topic of death that is described as a never ending cycle that everyone will experience. The first point in “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” he describes life as a never ending cycle. This is shown by saying “The tide rises, the tide falls…and the tide rises, the tide falls” (Longfellow 1). This quote describes life in a cycle that will never end because when one dies another is born. Another point that is used by Longfellow in “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” is how people will remember you when you’re gone to a better place. This is shown when Longfellow says “Efface the footprints in the sand” (Longfellow 9). Which explains that you will not be alive forever, so when it is your time to go what will you leave behind in order for people to remember you? Lastly Longfellow explains that life will go on even when you’re gone. Longfellow explains this point when he states “Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls: The day returns, but nevermore returns the traveler to the shore” (Longfellow 12). Here Longfellow uses imagery by saying the horses stomp and neigh and the sun comes up even though the traveler will not be coming home because the traveler has passed on. All of the points explained all lead the reader right back to the ultimate theme of death.
The third and final poem is “Thanatopsis” written by William Cullen Bryant which describes death as a horrific, painful, and something to be feared. One of the points that Bryant uses to describe this is live your life to the fullest. Bryant shows this by saying “so live, that when thy summons come to join…that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death” (Bryant 73). He is saying live life while you can to the best of your abilities because when you’re gone you will not be able to do all the things you’ve missed out on. Next Bryant explains death as a horrific and painful experience. Bryant does this by saying “and, lost each human trace, surrendering up thine individual being, shalt thou go” (Bryant 24). This quote explains the horrific fear that humans will have when they die because no one person or thing will remember them because everyone will eventually die off. Lastly Bryant points out in his poem “Thanatopsis” that death can also be something to look forward to instead of always being afraid of it. Bryant explains this point when he says “Yet not to thine eternal resting-place shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish” (Bryant 31). Bryant says here that even though you will die, you will not die alone. “Thanatopsis” explains death as a gruesome thing because Bryant wants to strike fear in everyone so that they will understand that you need to live life to fullest while you are still around to do so.
Throughout reading these poems they all use the theme of death whether it be painful, scary, and gruesome or described as nothing, because life itself does not stop when you die. Death can lastly described as patriotic, and doing everything to fight and sometimes die trying in the poem “Old Ironsides”. The authors tell that death sometimes can be scary to think about but we all need to live our lives to the fullest while we have the chance because when you are gone there is no coming back. In all of these poems “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant and lastly “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow all have the common theme of death described in all different ways with different points throughout them.