At the end of a difficult day filled with uncertainty and self-doubt, the poet is comforted by the sight of a solitary waterfowl on the horizon and realizes that everything in nature is guided by a protective divine providence. [3], The inspiration for the poem occurred in December 1815 when Bryant, then 21, was walking from Cummington to Plainfield to look for a place to settle as a lawyer. It's following a path …

That gets him thinking: just where is the bird headed? In his whimsical meditating, the poet addresses the bird directly as though to open up a dialogue between nature’s creature and the poet’s inner soul. The beginning of this particular poem starts out by describing the scene of what he is looking at. Nevertheless, the poet realizes that the bird’s tiring journey will soon come to an end, and that the bird will be able to rest in its summer home, make noise among the other birds of the flock, and have the reeds cover its nest. Then, the poet feels that some Power is leading the bird over coastlines that have no path, over a wide aerial expanse. William Cullen Bryant's "To a Waterfowl" Analysis: By the title of this poem one can only come to the conclusion that the poem is about nature. [5] It was later published in the collection Poems in 1821.[1]. William Cullen Bryant wrote “To a Waterfowl” in 1815.

The speaker is out walking one day and sees a waterfowl overhead.

Organized around the scenic images and the poet's somewhat whimsical reflections, "To a waterfowl" by William Cullen Bryant has a spiritual tone as the poet opens a dialogue between Nature and his... What is the dominant emotional mood in the poem "To a Waterfowl"? It appears to the poet at dusk as it gently floats overhead and gradually disappears into the horizon. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. Bryant, an attorney, ultimately became a writer and the editor of the New York Evening Post. As the waterfowl disappears out of the narrator's sight, the narrator reflects on God's guidance in his own life. The bird, alone and solitary, is silhouetted across the evening sky. Bryant was of the Unitarianism religious persuasion and his poem provides comfort to anyone despite their religious beliefs.
Thus, the poem twice repeats three descriptive stanzas followed by a meditation.

[1], As the narrator sees God directing the waterfowl, the narrator is reminded of God's guidance in his own life. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Both lyric and didactic, “To a Waterfowl” creates a natural scene in order to derive a moral lesson from it. The conclusion is that God will guide the narrator just as he guides the bird in his migratory flight. Because this Power guides the bird, it can wander alone without ever getting lost. Like, "To a Waterfowl," it expresses the beauty of Nature and the idea that death is just a part of the cycle of Nature.

Vainly the fowler’s eye. In the first stanza, the speaker asks which direction is the "solitary way" of the waterfowl. Now, the narrator's faith is strengthened. Bryant captures the natural scene of the bird at sunset. "To a Waterfowl." According to one of his biographers, Bryant was inspired to write “To a Waterfowl” when he was a twenty-one-year-old aspiring lawyer on his way to a new town. He knows that God is guiding him as well. However, the image of the bird leaves a message in the poet’s heart. The poem consists of eight quatrains, or four-line stanzas. The poem is organized clearly around the scenic images alternating with the poet’s reflections. By William Cullen Bryant. Suddenly the speaker can't see the bird anymore, but the bird's lesson will always be with him: God, or something very much like Him, will be there to guide him when he feels most alone.

The main metaphor of the poem is presented in the eighth stanza, where the parallel between the bird's flight and the narrator's life is presented. Then he realizes something. In other... What is the moral lesson of the poem To a Waterfowl by William Cullen Bryant? Whither, 'midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue. He wonders where it is headed so late in the day. This poem satisfies both goals. The poem subtly blends descriptive scenes with inward reflections on them.

Both lyric and didactic, “To a Waterfowl” creates a natural scene in order to derive a moral lesson from it. He warns the waterfowl that he could possibly find danger, traveling alone. To a Waterfowl Summary.

The narrator questions where the waterfowl is going and questions his motives for flying. He warns the waterfowl that he could possibly find danger, traveling alone. The poet tells the bird that it is gone, that it is “swallowed up” in the heavens. <, http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides4/Waterfowl.html#Top, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=To_a_Waterfowl&oldid=961919064, Works originally published in the North American Review, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 11 June 2020, at 03:13. Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong, As, darkly seen against the crimson sky, Thy figure floats along. In the poem 'To a Waterfowl' by the poet William Cullen Bryant, the writer takes comfort from the presence of a kindly omnipotent 'being' (his God) in the face of the challenges ahead - a lonely... What is the overall mood of the poem "To a Waterfowl"? The duck, flying across the sunset, seemed to Bryant as solitary a soul as himself, inspiring him to write the poem that evening.

© 2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Bryant is acknowledged as skillful at depicting American scenery but his natural details are often combined with a universal moral, as in "To a Waterfowl".
The first three stanzas describe the bird’s flight and possible destination, while the fourth meditates on a “Power” that guides the bird’s flight. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. In the poem Bryant, on a solitary walk himself, espies a flying waterfowl overhead and draws a parallel... How can I interpret the poem "To a Waterfowl"? [4], "To a Waterfowl" was first published in the North American Review in Volume 6, Issue 18, March 1818.

The bird may be weary, but it does not land even when night comes on. The poet sees a bird flying alone in the distance and muses that it is safe from any would-be hunter who would do it harm. It's following a path laid out for it by a mysterious spiritual Power. But this waterfowl is not alone; it is being led by some Power. The poem opens with a question and the interrogative form is used in both the first and third stanzas. Now, the narrator's faith is strengthened. By not specifying the waterfowl’s species, the poet suggests a more universal image that will help in conveying his theme. The speaker is out walking one day and sees a waterfowl overhead. The narrator is sure that God has led this waterfowl, and that the waterfowl had faith in the narrator. That gets him thinking: just where is the bird headed? For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

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