Poetry Analysis of Thanatopsis

Literal Meaning:
Nature is beautiful and speaks to people.
When someone dies, people are sad, and their world is dark.
A person who dies is forever in the ground.
The human essence is lost and mixed with nature.
The oak tree will embrace you.
You will not die alone and you cannot ask for a better resting place.
Everyone is the same after death.
Nature is a giant tomb for man.
Everyone of all ages is sad about death.
People on Earth are a small amount of people that rest in the earth.
Embrace your death, or become lost and alone.
Who will notice you when you die?
Everyone dies.
People will move on, but eventually join you in death.
Regardless of age, they will follow you in death someday.
Live life to the fullest, so it’s not agony when you die; you die happy.

Poetic Devices:
There are many poetic devices which are used in William Cullen Bryant's Thanatopsis, One that sticks out a lot to me is Imagery. There is a ton of imagery in this poem regarding the heavens, nature, and then a large portion about death. It wants you to think death as a peaceful thing and so it refers to beautiful things that surround us our whole life.
There are also metaphors within this poem. They are a little rare, but they do reside within the poem. Bryant compares the last thought of death to a bad omen over your soul in the first stanza for an example. Bryant uses metaphors to put forward an easier way to read, and a recurring thought of death with his metaphors within Thanatopsis.
I do believe that William Cullen Bryant uses a small amount of personification within his writing like when he mentions the valleys and the brook, he says they are respectable and they stretch in silence, which they cannot do.
Bryant uses many similes within this poem. It occurs many times throughout the poem like when he says,"the hills rock ribb'd and ancient like the sun," or, "When thoughts of the last bitter hour come like a blight over thy spirit."
There are also three stanzas within this poem as they all reflect it seems to be different stages of accepting your death.

Figural Meaning:
The meaning of Thanatopsis is very deep. It says that you should accept your death. You should not be afraid because whatever you did on earth is forgotten once you die; you are just another part of the earth like past kings or thieves. Nature will embrace you once you are dead no matter what you have done in your life. So live peacefully and do not think about death.