Psalm Of Life.docx

How Life is Portrayed in Henry Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life

A Psalm of Life Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,— act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

Inspired by his lecturer and the conversation with his friend about “talking of matters, which lie near one's soul”, Henry wrote the poem which inspires many readers today. This poem tells people how to view life and death. The major theme is that humans do not merely live in the earth. Heaven may be the goal but people are encouraged to live productively and generously. The American romantic poet writes many inspiring poem and he is well known for his lyric poetry which is the poetry is written from the heart and the feeling of the author. In the first stanza, Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! , Longfellow disagrees to say that life is an empty dream. Then he continues telling that, people are not dying for nothing. The metaphor dead that slumbers tells that people who are dead, they don’t necessarily truly die but they are somehow alive to other people. Longfellow uses the word slumber that can actually be applied to living people as dead people don’t sleep. The question is, why would people think the deads are somehow alive? It is that when the people live, they do something that would be remembered by people even if the body is no longer in the earth. Longfellow objects the saying that someone’s life is nothing after the death in this life. In the second stanza, Longfellow encourages people to cherish the life, it is real, it is earnest and death is not the goal of life. Life is personified as soul. People may turn to dust physically, but

the soul is always there. Then he continues the next stanza by telling that life is also not about joy and sorrow but what we have done today should be for tomorrow’s betterment. Life is to act in the present, to do whatever can be done to make the world a better place to live. It is not only about doing things for enjoyment or sorrow. There are still many things to do to be better and better each day. Time in the forth stanza is capitalized and personified as a person. Time is fleeting suggests that time can be so alive that time flies, and it ticks very fast and everyone is meeting the death soon. Therefore our hearts, though stout and brave, the repetition suggests the meaning ‘strong determination’, a person should act bravely now. That is again, to make the life meaningful, and it is going to be something after the death. Longfellow makes the comparison of life as a battle. He puts the simile be not like dumb, driven cattle! – to suggest someone should have a principle to walk the life, not merely following the flow and be able to strive for the best - Be a hero in the strife! Again in the lines - Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,— act in the living Present! Longfellow really encourages people to act now. People should forget the past, need not think too much about the future because it depends on the present time and so be in the present to take action. God is watching when we do things with heart - Heart within, and God o’erhead! Lives of great men all remind us; Footprints on the sands of time – We shall be inspired by the great men and we shall act like them and leave a good memory – footprint on the sands of time. Footprint is the metaphor for success as in lives of great men. People can be motivated again when they have seen the footprint left. to repeat the success. When it comes to failure, he suggests people to gain back the spirit by looking at the success that has been made in the history. In the lyrical poetry that has a very clear rhyming, followed by alliterations as in grave— goal, broad battle, and Learn—labor that make readers enjoy the music in the poem, Longfellow tries to convey the message that people should take life as the opportunity to make the most in every minute for the betterment instead of merely going to through the life cycle itself. It is a battle where people should bravely fight like a driven cattle. With a strong determination, people strive for the best.

With the realistic nature, Henry Longfellow is able to relate the reality and give relevant insight gain to readers although this poem was written more than a century ago.