William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), American poet and journalist, born in Cummington, Massachusetts, and trained in law. Bryant wrote his finest poetry in his youth. The first draft of “Thanatopsis,” his most famous poem, was written when he was 16 years of age, and he was only 27 years old when his first published volume, Poems, appeared in 1821. Poems included, in addition to “Thanatopsis,””Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood,””Green River,” and “To a Waterfowl.” From then until his death, Bryant was known as one of the most distinguished poets in the United States.

In 1825 he went to New York City, where he became coeditor of the New York Review, a literary periodical, and a year later an editor for the New York Evening Post. By 1829 he was editor in chief of the Post and later part owner. As a journalist he campaigned vigorously for free trade, free speech, the rights of workers, and the abolition of slavery. He was instrumental in organizing the Republican Party and was an ardent partisan of the Union cause during the American Civil War.

Poetry was largely an avocation for Bryant in his later years. He produced several volumes of verse, none of which is considered equal to the poems he wrote in his youth. Bryant is often called the American Wordsworth because, like the romantic poet William Wordsworth, he wrote about nature. Although Bryant's poetry was frequently didactic, he is best remembered for his beautiful descriptions of scenes in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. For Bryant, nature was a symbol of the power of God and a moral influence on humanity. Among his other works are translations of the Iliad (1870) and the Odyssey (1871), by Homer, still considered among the best in English verse.