Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and "A Psalm of Life"

"Look, then, into thine heart and write!"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was perhaps the best loved American poet. His lyrical poetry is easy and lilting like a melody. In his words the reader can find some small lesson on life, mostly that life itself is beautiful. This is best illustrated in his poem "A Psalm of Life." I read this poem a few years ago and instantly fell in love with its lyrical lines and inspiring message. In this poem Longfellow tells us that we are here on Earth to live for today, not just to wait for death to take us. Even in adversity we should persevere, never giving up because time is too swift to wait for death.

Click on Longfellow to read"Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Poet for All People", a biography

A PSALM OF LIFE.

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST

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.

Longfellow Links

A page of Longfellow quotes

The Longfellow National Historic Site

The Longfellow page at Safe Haven, a website with pages dedicated to artists, poets, theologians, philosophers, and musicians. The Longfellow page includes quotations, a few poems, and a biography.

Click on the beach scene to view the Bibliography of this page.

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