William Cullen Bryant

Simply stated, this book will introduce the surprising literary figure behind a familiar name. Though a mere vestige of William Cullen Bryant's fame survives through inclusion of "Thanatopsis" and perhaps one or two other poems in school anthologies, the nineteenth century celebrated him as one of its great men. He not only deserved that acclaim, but he was actually a more important writer than his century recognized. Half of this volume consists of a Bryant showcase. Three dozen poems chosen from the hundreds he produced reveal him as a revolutionary of prosody seeking refuge from Calvinism in a pantheistic God. Extracts from his criticism are a homily promoting the prospects for American literary nationalism. Also included here is a pair of his tales which, although almost totally unknown, are among the best work in the genre written before the Civil War. The other half of this new volume presents a concise biography and, of special interest, three groundbreaking new critical studies. Gado argues that Bryant is the Founding Father of American poetry. As a poet of nature, Bryant played a literary role comparable to the influence on art exercised by his good friend Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School. But perhaps even more important was the example Bryant set for Walt Whitman in a relationship explored here for the first time. A much briefer piece discovers the consistent philosophical belief addressed by a lifetime of poems. The third essay is unique in its consideration of Bryant's short fiction, which has never before received attention.

ISBN 1584656190   Pages 198 ISBN13 9781584656197 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher University Press of New England   Weight (grammes) 340 Imprint University Press of New England   Published in Hanover Format Paperback   Height (mm) 229 Publication date 15 Jan 2007   Width (mm) 152 Library of Congress 2006025000   Spine width (mm) 14 DEWEY 811.3   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

		"They taught me, and it was a fearful creed"		31
		Thanatopsis		32
		The yellow violet		35
		"I cannot forget with what fervid devotion"		36
		Inscription for the entrance to a wood		37
		To a waterfowl		39
		"This grassy slope, this ancient tree"		40
		Green river		41
		A winter piece		43
		"O fairest of the rural maids"		47
		Hymn to death		48
		The early anemone		53
		The rivulet		54
		Summer wind		57
		Love's seasons		59
		Mutation		61
		To a mosquito		62
		A scene on the banks of the Hudson		64
		"I broke the spell that held me long"		65
		October		66
		A forest hymn		67
		June		71
		To the fringed gentian		73
		November		74
		The two graves		75
		The prairies		77
		The knight's epitaph		81
		The living lost		83
		The old man's counsel		84
		An evening revery		87
		The snow-shower		89
		"Earth's children cleave to earth"		91
		More...

"Before Whitman, before Twain, before Frost, there was Bryant, [whose] talents and innovations warrant the closer scrutiny that Gado gives him." --Valley News

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