Christopher Clarke

Mrs. Pritchard
English II Block IV
17 December 2015
Death Compared (Midterm English Essay)
A Carol of Harvest is a poem written by Walt Whitman and An Autumn Sunset written
by Edith Wharton. Whitman is no stranger to transcendentalism and frequently uses its ideas
throughout his work. This poem is no exception to that, using transcendentalism to help create
the imagery present in the poem. A Carol of Harvest talks about death, taking a happier look at
it. In most stories about death, death is seen as something that is so sad, and there is no light at
the end of the tunnel. This poem flips that notion on its head by talking about remembering the
good things of someones life instead of just thinking about the fact that someone is dead.
Because Whitman constantly talks about nature and its beauty, this poem, gives off the idea of
being one with nature, and also just being happy. Whitman uses imagery and tone to help get his
point across, and it seems to make his work richer.
A Carol of Harvest has an optimistic tone due to the brighter approach of death. This
poem has lovely imagery to help its tone and identify its literary movement. An example of
imagery in this poem is when Whitman writes, But on these days of brightness, / On the farstretching beauteous landscape, / the roads and lanes, the high-piled farm-wagons, and the fruits
and barns, / Shall the dead intrude? (Whitman 62-65). This quote paints beautiful lush green
landscapes, with fruits, and barns, while talking about not letting the death ruin the special
moments in life. Another example would be:
O Earth, that hast no voice, confide to me a voice! / O harvest of my lands! O boundless

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summer growths! / O lavish, brown, parturient earth! O infinite, teeming womb
(Whitman 11-13).
This other piece of imagery talks about the color and how the Earth is like a womb ready to give
birth. While A Carol of Harvest looks at the positive side of death, An Autumn Sunset by
Edith Wharton, shows the negative side of death.
An Autumn Sunset is written by Edith Wharton and belongs under naturalism. This
poem falls into the literary movement Naturalism because of its talk of nature, but most
importantly because this poem has a pessimistic state of mind. An Autumn Sunset talks about
the negative side of death. This poem has a very gloomy tone because it explores the thought that
whether people are bad or good in life, everyone becomes equal in death. While the tone is very
dark, the imagery is black.
Edith Wharton starts off her poem with dark imagery and continues to use it throughout.
The first use of imagery is, LEAGUERED in fire / The wild black promontories of the coast
extend / Their savage silhouettes (Wharton 1-3). This example of imagery is not talking about
anything that is exactly dark, but it is how she talks about these things that they become frightful.
Another great example of imagery in this piece of literature is, The motionless storm-clouds
mass their sullen threats, / Like an advancing mob in sword-points penned (Wharton 6-7). The
image that comes from this has no life and no hope. It is just dull and unpromising, much like
death is usually thought of as being. Both A Carol of Harvest and An Autumn Sunset talk
about death, one is more melancholy.
A Carol of Harvest and An Autumn Sunset both deal with the subject of death, and
they both deal with it differently. A Carol of Harvest sees the brighter so of it, while An
Autumn Sunset sees the darker side. A Carol of Harvest belongs to transcendentalism that is

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light and free because, from a philosophy standpoint, it is used to help find inner peace. An
Autumn Sunset is under naturalism because the talk of nature and its pessimistic outlook. A
Carol of Harvest is about remembering life as happy. An Autumn Sunset is sad, it is about
when life ends, it just ends, and everyone is equal when they die no matter if they lived goodly or
badly. In conclusion, both these poems deal with death, and it is important to read both just to see
how different people deal death, especially since everyone will eventually die.