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A Psalm of Life ICSE 10 Stanza 1 The poet says that he does not want to pay any heed to those verses of the Bible which stress upon the futility of life because it comes to an end eventually. He discards any pessimistic way of thinking which regards life as a dream that is empty. In dreams we are offered a lot of great things but dreams are empty because the moment we wake up; all that we had been awarded vanishes. Poet says that it is indeed true that human life resembles such empty dreams because of life s transience we get to enjoy all that life offers us only to give it all up when it is time to leave Earth. However, things are not what they seem . In spite of its temporality, life is much more substantial than dreams since a lot can be achieved during one lifetime, as opposed to in dreams. Anyone who chooses to think otherwise and gives up on life because it ends eventually has a very weak soul. He disavows such weakness of spirit and the pessimism born out of it. Stanza 2 The poet says that in spite of being temporal life is very real. Just because it comes to an end, it should not be taken lightly. Life is serious business and because it is short, it calls out to us with an urgency to achieve all that we can and develop ourselves Life is real, life is Earnest . To help us view life in a serious and urgent light, the poet urges us to see it as independent of the impending Death. The aim of being alive is not to die one day. As humans who have been given the gift of life, we must not think of it as a slow wait for Death. Instead, we must utilize all the opportunities that come our way to better ourselves. The poet adds that the biblical wisdom that we all come from nothing and vanish into nothingness is indeed true. However, this wisdom is not applicable for the soul which is immortal and lives on till eternity. Here, the idea from the first stanza, that life is not an empty dream is being re-iterated. Life is not akin to a dream because of the soul. Our soul adds meaning and permanence to our life. Death cannot touch it. Stanza 3 In the third stanza the poet talks to us about the best way to make the most of our lives. He says that whiling away our time in merriment or by grieving over losses or pain is not the right away to be living our numbered days. He says that as the most evolved species, humans are destined for much more than just mindless pleasure or sorrow. The poet then invokes the theme of carpe diem or the proverbial seize the day and asks to act. He wants us to make ourselves useful and fill our days with activity to the brim such that every coming day sees us more advanced in life than what we are at present. He wants us to keep striving to develop ourselves and our souls. That way, when the time to bid farewell does come we would have reached the pinnacle of self-completion. Stanza 4 In the fourth stanza the poet explains the urgent need to make every day count. He says that Art, which is the only nourishment for the soul is endless and our Time on Earth is too limited. Hence he asks us not to lose any time and cultivate our soul through Art because even though our heart might seem strong when we are young, it is actually like drum, the beats of which keep dropping as it slips towards the inevitable End. What the poet means to say is that our days on Earth are numbered and every day takes us closer to the end. Our strong heart-beats die a little every day, like muffled drums since they are on a funeral march to the grave . Hence we must soak in as much of the infinite repertoire of Art as possible before death takes us in our stride. Stanza 5 The fifth stanza is like Longfellow s call to action for all his young readers. He compares the world to a battlefield and our life as a camp on that field. What the poet means is that he understands that the world is destined to throw obstacles towards our way and camped on this battlefield of a world, our average lives are no less than a war against all the hardships and struggles. However, the poet wants us to not let the struggle get to us. He encourages us not to follow the masses in their blind run. The poet wants us to rise above the mediocrity of being dumb, driven cattle and face all the hardships of life like a hero! Stanza 6 In the 6th Stanza, the poet asks us to live in the present. He asks us not to waste our time planning the pleasures of the Future because one can never trust the Future to come. According to him, the ones stuck in the past should also move on because what is over is done with and there is no point mulling over it. Hence he wants us to bury our Past, i.e. leave it behind. The poet opines that neither the Future nor the Past holds any key to any productivity since the same lies in the Present. He wants us to act only on the Present and fill it with all our energy. He asks us to invest our present with all our heart and have faith in God that we will be awarded for all the efforts that we have put in the right direction. Stanza 7 Longfellow asks us to derive our inspiration from the great men who have gone down in History to show that we can make our lives grand and purposeful by investing adequate amount of hard work in the right direction. The poet asks to learn life lessons from these great men such that even we can be counted among them one day. By following their example, even we can leave footprints on the sands of Time i.e. make our mark in the history of mankind. Stanza 8 In this stanza the poet stresses upon the fact that our great actions are capable of initiating another chain of greatness. Just like we take inspiration from the great men in history, our success stories can also inspire someone going through a tough time in his life. He compares life to rough seas and parallels the act of living as sailing on such solemn waters. The forlorn and shipwrecked brother then becomes any helpless human being going through hardships and troubles in his life. He says that our great actions can inspire a fellow lonely and devastated sailor on the sea of life, to take inspiration from our actions and have the courage to brave the rough times in his life. Hence, by seizing the day and making it count in spite of obstacles we will not just help ourselves but will also be doing humanity a great favor by extending a tradition of bravery and greatness. Stanza 9 In the concluding stanza the poet yet again inspires us to be ready to fill our present with a burst of activity and have courage to face any tumbling blocks that might come our way in the process. Activity and the courage to face any hardships are the crux of a meaningful life according to Longfellow. The poet adds that in our pursuit to achieve our goals we must learn to embrace hard work along with patience. Just working hard is not enough. We also need to exercise patience while the fruits of our labor materialize. Critical Analysis A psalm is a sacred song or a hymn. H.W. Longfellow has indeed penned this poem in the tradition of a religious verse with the same spiritual fervor. However it is a very practical psalm, the aim of which is to enlighten young readers on the best way to lead their life. The poet urges the readers to not think of life as a waste because of its transience but make sure to defeat Death by filling it with activities to the fullest. He asks the readers to discard the past and the future and focus on cultivating the present and nourishing the soul in order to reach the pinnacle of self-development. This psalm imparts the moral lessons of courage and patience as the most important virtues on our path of self-actualization. He says that there is no substitute to hard work and hence one must labor endlessly to able to reach that point in life when the threat of Death will not bother us because our soul which is immortal would be nourished because of all the work we have done by seizing the day. The style of the poet is very ornate. He does not address the central idea of the poem in a direct way. Instead he weaves it through a wonderful play of words, engaged in metaphors, allusions and symbols. This increases the psalm like qualities of the poem. Most biblical pieces have their meaning hidden behind a layer of poetic devices. The writings style of the poet is resplendent with spiritual fervor such that it directly touches our soul and we feel motivated by the encouraging words of the poet. This poem is the perfect exemplification of how Longfellow was heavily influenced by European traditions. Because of the way the poet has formulated and expressed his thoughts in this piece, it can easily be identified with the British poetry of the Victorian period. It is important to note how the brevity of the poem belies its profundity. Although the poem is just thirty six lines, it touches upon a number of themes and imparts many valuable life lessons. It asks us to cultivate the soul, seize the present, have courage and patience, labor endlessly, get inspired from the best and inspire the coming generations for a few to list. Through just thirty six lines, the poet has managed to inspire the readers of his time and the many generations of them that followed. It is interesting to see the poet s perspective on the temporal nature of life which the poem brings out. He makes it very clear that life is temporary and short but he makes us feel all right about it by giving us the perfect way to invest it with meaning by beautifying our present and developing the self and the soul. It would not be an exaggeration to state that this poem is one of the best invocation pieces penned till date the continuing popularity of the poem, bears testimony to the same. TITLE: The title of A Psalm of Life is an appropriate one. A psalm is an invocation to mankind to follow the path of the righteousness. Here, the speaker advises people to be heroes in their lives. He asks them to lie in the present, without thinking about the past or the future. A poem teaching a moral lesson is called a didactic poem. A Psalm of Life is a didactic poem. The poet s task in the poem is to instruct and guide, to inspire and modify. The poem teaches basic human values and lays out a foundation for a prosperous, ethical life. STYLE: Form and structure: The poem consists of nine stanzas of four lines each. The poem has regular rhyming pattern. Each stanza follows the rhyme scheme abab. In every stanza, the first line rhymes with the third line and the second line with the fourth. Allusion: Allusion is a reference to other works or cultures in prose and poetry. H.W Longfellow has used allusions to convey his message in the poem. Tell me not, in mournful numbers. In the above line, numbers refer to the verses in the Bible. Dust thou art, to dust thou returnest The above line too has a Biblical reference. FIGURES OF SPEECH: Similes: It is a figure of speech in which a likeness between two different things is stated using the words like or as. Examples of similes in A Psalm of Life are, 1. Still, like muffled drums, are beating 2. Be not like dumb, driven cattle! METAPHORS: Metaphor is that figure of speech where comparison of two different things are implied but not clearly stated. Examples of metaphor in the poem are, 1. Life is but an empty dream. 2. Soul id dead that slumbers 3. Art is long and Time is fleeting ALLITERATION: Alliteration is the close repetition of the consonant sounds at the beginning of words to facilitate narration. Examples of alliteration in the poem are, 1. Grave is not its goal 2. Find us further 3. Dumb driven cattle 4. Learn to labour 5. Dust thou art, to dust thou returnest. PARALLELISM: Parallelism is used when the speaker says 1. Life is real! Life is earnest! 2. Still achieving still pursuing. H.W Longfellow points out that one has a duty to make this world a better place to live in. A Psalm of Life is a whole collection of moral principles to be followed by all the people. The principles listed by the poem are enumerated as follows,*Life has a serious mission. *Life does not end with death. *We have a destiny irrespective of our joys and sorrows. *Time is too short for our long mission. *Become great by emulating great men. *Learn to labor and wait for results. *Act now, in the living present. *Be a hero in the struggle of life. Rhyme Scheme: The poem A Psalm of life by H.W. Longfellow consists of nine stanzas with four lines each. End rhyme has been used extensively is the poem all throughout. It follows the rhyme pattern of abab/cdcd/efef/ghgh/ijij/klkl/mnmn/opop/qrqr
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