Happy Monday friends! Welcome to another edition of Monday Travels
So today we are in UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and we will explore:
A PSALM OF LIFE
A PSALM OF LIFE
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, and was one of the five Fireside Poets from New England.
Longfellow wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas,
Longfellow wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas,
Poem:
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 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,
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 tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
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.
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!
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.
Thoughts:
I have read numerous analysis of this poem. One being about living your life in the right way, others being related to religion or that one should seek happiness is small things but actually I do not see any of these analyses in the poem.
Poetry is a language that everyone understand differently. For me, being yet another reader of the poem it speaks of the endless possibilities that life might bring to you if you just apply yourself and stay true to what you believe in. It's about how you can make a mark that:
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Oh boy! These lines hit me in the feels!!!
I have read numerous analysis of this poem. One being about living your life in the right way, others being related to religion or that one should seek happiness is small things but actually I do not see any of these analyses in the poem.
Poetry is a language that everyone understand differently. For me, being yet another reader of the poem it speaks of the endless possibilities that life might bring to you if you just apply yourself and stay true to what you believe in. It's about how you can make a mark that:
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Oh boy! These lines hit me in the feels!!!
See you Next Monday!
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