A PSALM OF LIFE - H.W. Longfellow

A PSALM OF LIFE

H.W. Longfellow

                Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a pioneer poet of America. He was a humanist and lover of freedom. His poem “A Psalm of Life” is a celebration of human life and courageous action against all odds in life. It describes the purpose of life and how one should handle the sorrows and struggles along the way of life.

‘Psalm’ means a song of praise. Thispoem glorifies life. The poet tells that some philosophers lament that life is an empty dream. But the poet asserts that life is real, serious ad meaningful.

                The poet says that life is real and true and that death is not the goal of life. He asserts that the soul lives on and does not turn to dust. ‘Dust thou art, to dust returnest’, is in fact said of the body and not of the soul.

                Some men tend to believe that pleasure is the aim of their life. Some think they would end up in sorrow. But the poet affirms that neither joy nor sorrow is man’s goal in life. Neither pleasure nor pain is the destined way of life. The greatest purpose of life is ‘to act’ with the intent of getting a step ahead than the previous day. We are meant to act and go beyond mere sorrow or happiness.

                Even though we are brave, our hearts are broken at the thought of the death. The thought of death makes one feel frustrated. The poet wants us to utilize our limited time span to the fullest instead of wasting it in the thought of death.

The poet compares the world to a vast battlefield and the humans as the troops. The poet wants us to be in a hero in this battle of life that like the dumb cattle driven by others, with no particular goal or direction.

The poet instructs us not to trust the future however pleasant it may seem because we often get carried away by the happy dreams about our future and forget to act in the present. He also tells us to forget the past events as they are dead and they should not haunt us anymore and affect our present action. And what is crucial is to act in the present so that we can enrich ourselves in every way. We have to follow our heart and keep faith in God.

                The poet says that the lives of the great and successful men remind us that we can achieve those heights if we wish and strive for that. And if, we can do that, we would be living forever through our works, in the hearts of people. We can also leave our marks on the infinite flow of time through our good work which would inspire our later generation. A dejected man, a wretched person or a hopeless shipwrecked man will follow the footprints left by us and he will regain the hope in his life.

In the last stanza, the poet asks us to rise at once and start working. However the poet urges us not to mind the consequences. We must work continuously to reach great heights. We must learn to work hard, to act wisely and wait for the rewards patiently. Thus the poem is a strong message for all the people to fare forward and fare well.

------HAPPY LEARNING------