In 1808, his father helped Bryant develop his first publication titled, "The Embargo; or, Sketches of the Times: A Satire, by a Youth of Thirteen." The work condemned Thomas Jefferson and the policies of his political party. Later, Bryant wrote a second satirical piece called "Descriptio Gulielmopolis," which illustrated the young man's grievances about college life at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.
Though he won fame in his teenage years, Bryant published his first collection of poetry in 1821.Throughout his poetic career, Bryant often composed in blank verse, a form that makes use of meter but not of rhyme. "The Ages," which describes the history of civilization down to the founding of the United States, illustrates the poet's use of the style. He also completed his translations of the classics from Latin in blank verse.
When an epidemic surfaced in 1812, Bryant's work reflected the influence of Robert Blair and Henry Kirke White, whose macabre work earned them the epigram of "Graveyard Poets." However, his most celebrated poem, "Thanatopsis," is a solid example of American Romanticism, and the piece reflected Bryant's preoccupation with religion, death and love of nature. Nineteenth-century school children commonly recited the poem from memory.
Bryant's uncle taught him to read Latin in his teens, and Bryant used this skill to translate several works by classical Roman poet Virgil, including portions of "Ecologues," "Georgics" and "Aeneid." In his later years, Bryant again turned to translation, publishing both works attributed to Homer, "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad." Bryant's final translation of the latter work was published in 1870, eight years before his death.