You may also find These documents Helpful. Essay on a psalm of Life. A, psalm of, life -hurry wadsworth Longfellow Henry wadsworth Longfellow is noted as the most popular American poet of the nineteenth century. His poetry and narrative works are lyrical with an easy rhythm, making them memorable. Uplifting with topics the every man can relate to, longfellows poetry hums in peoples minds like a favorite song. A psalm of, life was first published in voice of the night in the september edition of New York monthly in 1839.
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Goethe's romantic brand of German Protestantism, which lauded action and boldness. Action and striving are key in this poem, but Longfellow says it papers is also important to embrace quietness of spirit and the value that comes in waiting and contemplation. Waiting can be a sort of labor itself, and labor for its own sake does not bring satisfaction or meaning. The poem, written in 1838, draws on Protestant, romantic, and "common sense" aesthetic thought that circulated at the time. Critic Jill Anderson discusses these influences and how Longfellow uses them to give form to his didacticism. She writes, the poem echoes other didactic texts of the era by urging that the heart and the mind be directed toward a number of goals—mature adulthood, moral integrity, economic success, salvation itself—without referring to any of these goals specifically. A man works on himself the way a poet crafts a poem, a blacksmith shapes a sword, or an artist paints a canvas. In terms of literary influences upon the text, scholars usually find the aforementioned goethe as well as poe and Dante, but this poem also has many similarities to a few Spanish works. Longfellow spent the years between 18 traveling Europe and did not write poems during this time; instead, he translated many works, those in the Spanish language outnumbering those in other languages. Aquinas healy addresses this in her article on the poem, noting that Psalm of Life was the first original poem written after Longfellows time of study and translation. In particular, she sees Jorge manriques poem Coplas as an influence; this was not only because longfellow called this poem the most beautiful moral poem in the Spanish language, but because similarities exist in terms of the concept of the empty dream, the souls goal.
As critic Randall Huff describes it, the poem is a youthful declaration of independence from a pessimistic determinism supported by the full weight of biblical authority. The words numbers and psalms allude to the bible, particularly the Old Testament, and provide the sense that the psalmists conception of life is one of bleakness, conservatism, and pessimism. The young mans response incorporates themes from Protestantism, but is much more optimistic. He uses religious language and thereby shows, as Huff writes, that his plans are not empty dreams because, as the products of his soul, they offer proof that his soul is not dead. Even though the body molders into dust, his soul does not. The young mans account of what life should shredder entail is reflective of the Protestant work ethic in which earnest labor brings meaning to a difficult life. It also incorporates the influence.
Thus, we must seize the life we have and be heroic, be more than dumb beasts. We ought to be wary of the past and the future, and instead live and act within the present. When we look at the lives of great men we can see that it is possible to live with meaning and that when we depart, we leave our footprints on the sands of time. It is possible that some other person who is toiling mournfully may see our footprints and take heart. Knowing this, we should be hopeful, prepared for anything; we should endeavor to achieve and pursue, as well as learn to labor and to wait. Analysis, this is one of Longfellows most beloved poems. It is didactic, intending to provide advice and counsel to young men earnestly endeavoring to discern how to live this ephemeral life. The poem concerns a young man who is responding to a psalmist after the older man gives an answer to the putative question of what the meaning of life is; we do not have the psalmists response but can guess that it consisted of Bible. The fact that the man is referred to as a psalmist gives the reader clues to what the poem is actually about.
The first sentence, "Tell me not in mournful numbers" draws one into the poem by giving one a visualization of a group of gloomy, pessimistic people regarding life as a melancholy passing. It sets the mood and tone for the rest of the poem-a dreary and gray, even tragic, tale. In the following sentence, "Life is but an empty. Summary, the young man, speaking from his "heart refuses to accept that life is an empty dream or that the soul is dead. Instead, he says that life is indeed real and true and that death is not the goal of life; the soul lives on and does not turn to dust. We are meant to act and go beyond mere sorrow or happiness. Even though we are brave, though, we still move towards death.
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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 dna 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.
Summary: This essay is a literary analysis on Henry wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life.". Henry wadsworth Longfellow wrote a classic poem entitled, "A Psalm of Life." Most people consider it to be a timeless work of art, for one can still relate to the central theme. It was written in the romantic Era of American Literature, where salvation through personalized nature was the primary theme for most Romantic poets. Longfellow's unique and genius use of metaphors, similes, and personification give "A Psalm of Life" its fascinating greatness. Longfellow's use of figurative language allows the reader to envision his words as actions rather than pictures.
It encourages you to go out and accomplish things. It seems he felt a new resolve to live a more fulfilling life after his depression lifted. He shows through his poetry a renewed interest in moving away from the past that had troubled him. Something in his life gave him expectations and hope to live each day to the fullest and be confident the future would not revisit him with more misery. Life Essay, research Paper, look not mournfully into the past.
Psalm of Life, what the heart of the young Man said to the Psalmist 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. 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!
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We must be up and doing and not sitting around watching life. We database can t be afraid and we must live with a heart for any fate. He is saying that we must accept fate as part of the plan for the greater good of all man. We must never give up in achieving our goal because there is hope for the future. You have to keep on getting up after you fall and try again or you will never accomplish anything meaningful. Lastly, you must learn to labor and to wait. Hard work and patience is what Longfellow is calling for in this final line. He is encouraging us to work with our hearts full of optimism for a bright future. I feel that Henry wadsworth Longfellow, after his wife s death, had an optimistic outlook in a psalm of Life.
We are to act in the living present because it is the here and now that is important and we must be concerned with worrying that the future will revisit us with the pain and suffering of our past. We are not to live in the past for being stuck in the past will get you nowhere. Then in the sixth stanza, longfellow tells to be reminded of the lives of great men because we can make our lives sublime. This shows we should look at the heroes writing of the past, emulate them, and follow their leads. In doing this you yourself can become a hero and leave footprints on the sands of time. We must strive to make a difference in the lives of the future so we may live on forever. In the final stanza, longfellow is prodding us to work toward achieving our goal no matter what the future holds.
o dust returnest, was not spoken of the soul. Our bodies will turn to dust but the soul will live. He feel there is an afterlife and we are here forever in spirit. But what we do with our time on earth is what makes us eternal because we are remembered for how we lived our lives. In the fifth stanza longfellow advises the reader to fight and to be active rather than sitting around in a passive way. We are told to trust no future because we don t know what the future holds.
After reading it the first time it had a powerful effect. Surprisingly, essays he wrote this poem few months after his first wife died. Longfellow took his wife s death and interpreted it as a sign to look at life as fleeting and it passes quickly. I feel that Henry wadsworth Longfellow, after his wife s death, had an optimistic view on life in the poem, a psalm of Life. The second stanza seems to say that life is here and it must be lived. It is real and not just some dream. Line five supports this with the hopeful exclamation that Life is real!
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Longfellows Optimism In Writing a psalm Of Life Essay, research Paper. Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear, and with a manly heart. This is a saying Longfellow read in Germany where his wife died. The words gave him hope for the future. It inspired him to want to write a series of psalms. The first one, father's a psalm of Life written by henry wadsworth Longfellow, is an uplifting poem that compels us to feel hope for the future.