In Memory of William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)

Editor's note: In the following excerpt, the great American poet offers advice on how to die.

So live that when thy summons come to join the innumerable caravan which moves to that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death, thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave…  Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.

                                                                                                        From  "Thanatopsis"

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