“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!”
Inspiring right? These simple, yet profound words can be found in only four lines of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, A Psalm of Life. Longfellow writes with heartfelt enthusiasm as he encourages the reader to live his life to the fullest, seeking no goal other than that beyond the grave. Longfellow also stirs in the reader, a confidence to live beyond the challenges that life brings.
Longfellow begins his poem by stating that the soul will continue to exist after the body dies, therefore, one must live his life truly knowing that there is more beyond death. Knowing that your soul lives on, one can find the strength for tomorrow. Longfellow explains this by voicing, “Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each tomorrow Find us farther than today.” Longfellow places immense value in his thoughts of that which one should live his life effectively and with anticipation, knowing that his soul will live on.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow believes that life is difficult and is often a struggle; ergo, one should not live like “dumb driven cattle” sitting idle, but should actively strive to make a difference in this world. He expresses that the reader should not dwell on the past, nor shall he look to the future, but instead live in the present, keeping a strong faith in God. Through A Psalm of Life, Longfellow conveys that, like great men before us, one should live his life sublime, making a change in the world.
Near the end of his poem, Longfellow states that if an individual lives his life to the fullest extent, a “shipwrecked brother” may come along, discouraged, and find inspiration in our footprints. The words of Longfellow challenge the reader to actively pursue to be the best that he can, being patient and positive, with a heart set on God.
We have previously studied a few of Longfellow’s works, and as I came upon this poem, its meaning grasped my attention. The encouraging words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow have inspired me to be that the best that I can be. A Psalm of Life is such a rousing explanation of how one should live their life that the poem’s meaning has encouraged me to strengthen my will and faith in all that I do. This message reminds me that I can make a difference, even a small difference, in our community and this country. Life is now, and through Longfellow’s moving composition I aspire to keep God foremost, and to live life earnestly.
For anyone seeking positive encouragement, I would recommend reading Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life. The exuberance which Longfellow expresses throughout his poem truly lifts the reader up, filling him with greater esteem and higher, constructive priorities. This poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is remarkably inspiring and is very much worth reading.
THAT IS ONE OF THE BEST POEMS IN ENGSH LANGUAGE.
ReplyDeleteLongfellow--is--a good poet--at times, stiff as I recall, but "A Psalm of Life" was just an exception to stiffness. Verses flow naturally, perhaps because of the subject matter. After all, life flows like a river--no thing can be bad enough to break water--it's too powerful to break. Around difficulty it carves a path.
The Long Fella is a transcendentalism beliefs in poem, so life is also an undeterred pilgrimage to God, just as every river is a pilgrim of an ocean.
Nice to meet you, Sarah. The poem is a very good choice. We very like it, too, and my name is Lucy, not really Armenian.
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15
ReplyDeleteThis is the Biblical Truth that may have backed up Longfellow’s quote in A Psalm of Life. I’ve never read that particular work (I haven’t read many of his works for that matter) but I find it interesting that he chooses to mention God in some works, and yet in others he vaguely hints at a “higher power” which rules over us. Transcendentalists were often proclaimed Christians, but that doesn’t match up with their beliefs of worshipping nature, being one with nature, or the idea that nature man and God share one soul. I don’t see those ideas anywhere in My God’s Word.
No religion is completely right, and no religion is wrong. If religion is a picture in the sky, everyone has a lamp to shine on the picture, seeing only a part, not a whole. Every different faith or god is a part of what really exists.
ReplyDeleteTranscendentalists tolerated religion, and the over-soul is life Brahma of Hinduism. Through dangerous cycles of vain death and re-incarnation, one's soul learns to think and accept, then can be mixed with Brahma.