Dan BlouinMrs. BernardPeriod March 212, 2014The Guide to HumanityNature can be described as strange, it can even be described as distracting. Nature can be used to help in fields such as medicine, but William Cullen Bryant uses nature in a different way that people don't typically see it. He uses nature to guide humanity through some of its darkest hours. In William Cullen Bryant's "Thanatopsis" and "To A Waterfowl", Bryant promotes extensive metaphors to show nature as a guide for humanity. In “Thanatopsis,” Bryant gives nature healing sympathy toward humanity when it needs it most. When humanity has bad thoughts about death, nature tries to help them feel better. Bryant wrote “She glides/In her darkest reflections, with gentle sympathy/And healing” (“Thanatopsis” 5-7). The dark thoughts he has in nature try to enter his mind to make him forget those thoughts and just live his life. Nature also wants humanity to feel happy and not worry about things like death. Nature tells him that death is a part of life and that he shouldn't worry. Bryant wrote “Come near to your grave/Like one who wraps the draperies of his couch/About him and lies down to dream pleasant dreams” (“Thanatopsis” 79-81). When humanity approaches his grave, he will lie down with nothing but pleasant dreams of his past life and nature will care for him while he is in his resting place. Nature cares about humanity and it does not want him to have dark thoughts and worry about death, because it is natural for living things to die. In “To A Waterfowl,” Bryant uses a bird as a symbol of hope for humanity. The bird helps humanity know that even if he has dark thoughts, he will be okay middle of paper......a teacher figure for humanity rather than a friend. Nature shows humanity that the dark thoughts he encounters should be ignored and he should simply live his life to the fullest. In William Cullen Bryant's "Thanatopsis" and "To A Waterfowl", Bryant promotes extended metaphors to show nature as a guide to humanity. Nature guides humanity to show that dark thoughts are normal. Nature also shows him that death is a natural thing and when it happens, he won't have to worry because he will be safe. Works Cited Huff, Randall. "'Thanatopsis.'" Bloom's Literature. Facts about File, Inc. Web. March 19, 2014. Netishen, Jessica and Brenna Rose, eds. American literature from colonialism to modernism. Burlington: Burlington Public Schools, 2013. Print.