"A Psalm of Life" is a poem written by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
A Psalm of Life[]
"Footprints on the sands of time"; illustration by H. Winthrop Pierce (1850-1935) from A Psalm of Life, 1892. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
"A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (read by Tom O'Bedlam)
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 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.
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 solenm 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.
Composition and publication history[]
Longfellow wrote the poem shortly after completing lectures on German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and was heavily inspired by him. He was also inspired to write it by a heartfelt conversation he had with friend and fellow professor at Harvard University Cornelius Conway Felton; the two had spent an evening "talking of matters, which lie near one's soul: - and how to bear one's self doughtily in Life's battle: and make the best of things".[1] The next day, he wrote "A Psalm of Life".
The poem was originally published in The Knickerbocker attributed only to "L." Longfellow was promised $5 for its publication, though he never received payment.[2]
"A Psalm of Life" and other early poems by Longfellow, including "The Village Blacksmith" and "The Wreck of the Hesperus", were collected and published as Voices of the Night in 1839.[3] This volume sold for 75 cents.[4]
In the summer of 1838, Longfellow wrote "The Light of Stars", a poem which he called "A Second Psalm of Life".[5]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Thompson, Lawrance. Young Longfellow (1807-1843). New York: The Macmillan Company,1938: 267.
- ↑ Cody, Sherwin. Four American Poets: William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes; a Book for Young Americans. New York: Werner School Book Co., 1899: 106-107. Web, August 12, 2008
- ↑ Calhoun, Charles C. Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life. Boston: Beacon Press, 2004: 137-139. ISBN 0-8070-7026-2.
- ↑ Irmscher, Christoph. Longfellow Redux. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2006: 54. ISBN 978-0-252-07586-5
- ↑ Thompson, Lawrance. Young Longfellow (1807-1843). New York: The Macmillan Company,1938: 270.
External links[]
- Text
- "A Psalm of Life" in the Yale Book of American Verse, 1912
- "A Psalm of Life" at the Poetry Foundation
- Audio / video
- "A Psalm of Life" at YouTube
- About
- An analysis of Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life", Yahoo Voices
- Poetry Analysis: A Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadworth Longfellow, Yahoo Voices
- Psalm of Life Analysis line by line at PsalmofLife.net.
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