Beyond The Grave
Death. It is a cold hard fact of life. Throughout the entire course of history, every single person has had to face the fact that someday they will die. When looking at American History from the 1600's to about 1865, the views on death and life after death changed with the religious beliefs of the people. This is reflected in the literary works of each time period. The Puritans believed in predestination; with that belief came the idea that God has already planned when people die and what happens afterward. In contrast to the Puritans, the Colonists and Early Americans did not believe that God directly intervened in every day life. Instead, He let people determine by their actions what happened after death. The Christian Faith is very strong and so are the beliefs of Life after Death and the existence in Heaven and Hell. The Transcendentalists of the Early Romantic period believe that everyone and everything is part of God, so they really do not have a concept of an afterlife, except that their bodies are re-united with nature and in that way they continue to live on.
Dying and suddenly ceasing to exist is a scary thought. Perhaps the existence of an afterlife comforts people when they are dying. In his diary, Samuel Sewall talks about seeing his friends again in Heaven after they die (372). If when people die they feel as if they have lived a good life and they will continue to live in another place (Heaven, for example), then dying is just passing on to the next life, and is not as traumatic as it seems.
The early Puritans believed everything happened because God desired or commanded it. They firmly believed in predestination and God controlled everything that happened. This included many things such as growing crops, the weather, fighting Indians, and dying. They believed when a person died, God took their life because it was His will. If the person who died was a good person, then the Puritans saw their death as God deciding the person had lived long enough and their time had come. If they were a bad person, then the person's death was viewed as God striking them down as punishment for their bad deeds. For example, a young man ridicules the Puritans, "But it pleased God…to smite this young man with a grievous disease…so was himself the first to be thrown overboard" (174). This even was seen as God punishing the young man and at the same time sustaining the Puritans in their desire to move to the new world.
In prose writings, such as diaries and journals, when God "took" a person's life, the Puritans were not very specific as to what happened after death. In spite, or perhaps because of, their deep religion, their views on the hereafter are extremely vague. Possibly this lack of mentioning the afterlife is the pilgrims' way of not being presumptuous. If they assume they will see their loved ones in Heaven, then perhaps God will be angry and condemn them to Hell. When Mary Rowlandson's child dies in the wilderness, there is no mention of her seeing it again in life after death. It is strange that she does not talk about it because the thought of seeing her baby again in the hereafter would have comforted her greatly in that dark time.
The poets of this era do mention life after death. Perhaps the Puritan poets feel it is permissible to mention Heaven through their poems because it is more indirect and not as real. In Anne Bradstreet's "The Flesh and the Spirit," the Spirit-half of the person talks about hoping to dwell in a heavenly city after the Flesh passes away (270). In addition, Edward Taylor devotes a whole poem to "Saints" going up to and dwelling forever in Heaven (345). This is not being prideful, because the poets are not directly talking about themselves and what will happen to them after Death.
As opposed to the Puritans, the colonists and Early Americans are very definite in most literary works about the existence of an afterlife. This is probably due to the "Great Awakening" and the resurgence of Religion, which had faded since the days of the Puritans. With religion, especially Christian Religion, comes the theory of Life after Death. Although the literature from this period is mostly political, a few authors mention death and the afterlife. In one poem, Philip Freneau writes about the Indians rejoining their friends after death and continuing to live on in another life (817). The Indians even go so far as to bury their dead with tools of this life so they will be able to use them in the next. The Early Americans acknowledge the concept of an afterlife; now the obvious question of "Where is it?" is raised.
Most writers of this time period, but especially Jonathan Edwards, believe there are two places a person can go to after they die (474). Heaven or Hell. It is common to most people of Christian faith to believe in Heaven and Hell. The popular belief at the time is God decides where you go based on your choices in life. Edwards reiterates repeatedly that only God can save us from the pit of Hell. This belief is similar to the beliefs of the Puritans. But Edwards also says if people are very careful to live a good life, perhaps then God will be merciful and send them to Heaven, and this idea reflects the belief of the time that a person chooses what will happen by their deeds.
Moving on to the Early Romanticists or Transcendentalists, the view of an afterlife, or even the existence of one, changes. Very few poets and authors mention the hereafter. When people die, then they are dad and no more is said except perhaps to lament their absence. Perhaps this is due to the "watering down" of religion. People are less religious and therefore God, and whether He sends you to Heaven or Hell, is less important. Therefore, without the next life to look forward to, the writers of this era turn to other forms of comfort when faced with death.
W.C. Bryant puts forth several ways of making death not seem so terrible in his poem "Thanatopsis" (1039). One way is to look at the fact that when a person dies their body is re-united with Earth. This view is popular with the Transcendentalists who like to focus on Nature. When people die, they are re-united with nature when they decompose. Then their body helps grow new things, so in a way they live on. Another way Bryant comforts his readers is by pointing out the fact that everyone has to die sometime. So, a person is not singled out to suddenly be gone from this earth; simply their turn has come and others' turns will come in time. This sharply contrasts the belief of the Puritans that a person dies when God singles them out to end their time on this Earth.
Looking at all the different authors, opinions, beliefs and forms of comfort when thinking about death, the writers do a good job accepting death. Over time, their beliefs and views reflect the popular opinions of that particular time. However, I feel the way Henry Wadsworth Longfellow approaches the subject of Death is the best. His poem "A Psalm of Life" focuses on Life, not death (1450). Longfellow feels that even though we are going to die someday, we should live life to the fullest while we can. This is the best way to look at it, because if we waste all our time focusing on death, then we lose the chance to live the Life that we have.
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