Bryant, William Cullen

(born Nov. 3, 1794, Cummington, Mass., U.S.—died June 12, 1878, New York, N.Y.) U.S. poet. At age 17 Bryant wrote “Thanatopsis,” a meditation on nature and death that remains his best-known poem; influenced by deism, it in turn influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Admitted to the bar at age 21, he spent nearly 10 years as an attorney, a profession he hated. His Poems (1821), including “To a Waterfowl,” secured his reputation. In 1825 he moved to New York City, where for almost 50 years (1829–78) he was editor in chief of the Evening Post, which he transformed into an organ of progressive thought.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica