From the Fireside Poets

by Mr Hal Moyer, 2023

Poetry has the power to connect us across places, demographics, and great spans of time. The poetic expression of both pain and comfort in the words of others can serve to give voice to our own pain and can pass that comfort on to us.

The word poetry comes from a Greek word that means “I make.” Poetry is the intent to create in verbal form.

William Cullen Bryant was a fireside poet known as the "Anti-Slavery Poet and Philosopher." He shared poetry with family and friends by the fireplace as a recreational act as the day came to a close. He lived from 1794–1878, up to and through the time of the War Between the States. He was a lawyer, journalist, and an advocate against slavery. He worked with powerful ideas.

Bryant lived with his grandfather, a stiff and non-relational man named Snell. His father, Peter, was out of the norm for what was expected in Puritan America. He subscribed to the religious idea of Unitarianism, which teaches that God has only one aspect, whereas Trinitarianism teaches the concept of the triune God––three persons in one.

At age 13, Bryant wrote a poem titled The Embargo. President Jefferson proposed an embargo, and it was the closest the nation came to a succession crisis up until the War Between the States. Bryant's poem was scathing, insisting Jefferson was tearing the country apart. Despite Bryant's young age, this poem was circulated and became quite popular.

Bryant's father wanted to help him with his poetry, so he had him study Greek and Latin. He immersed himself in these systemic languages. He had to think about what he was writing and use the technical excellence he had as a translator to create technically excellent poetry. He translated The Iliad, for example.

He realized that a career as a poet wouldn’t support him, so he went to law school and passed the bar. He joined a legal practice, but throughout the period he felt pulled back to poetry and artistry. He was put on a case that involved corruption, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. His friends the Sedgwicks helped him become involved in journalism. He started the U.S. Literary Gazette and ended up being the editor in chief for the New York Evening Post.

We use the word communion to refer to the Lord’s Supper. In his poem Thanatopsis, Bryant used the word to demonstrate a religious experience with nature. It showed that death was all around him. He wasn't alone in his destiny of death. Patriarchs of the ancient world and every person through history has died as well. Even the infant and the gray-haired old man are destined for death, and whoever comes after us will die as well. So, while we thought he was going to nature for comfort, all he saw was death. He used the word so to purpose. We, too, should live in a way that when we die, we go in trust and peace.

If God, man, and nature are all the same, and man is mortal and dies, and nature is born from the big bang and is on a collision course with the end of the universe, then what must we assume about the eternity of God? Transcendentalism leads us to a worldview where nothing is lasting. It leads to hedonism, that we should spend our lives seeking pleasure alone. It could lead to nihilism, the idea that nothing ultimately matters. The ramifications are deep.

The challenge we have today is to go home, put a fire in the fireplace, sit in a nice chair, put our phones up, and read a poem. Let that be your evening. If we did that more, we'd find a profound effect on ourselves We'll be less distracted. We’ll be more intentional with our language. We'll delve into the beauty found in the sub-creation of poetry.