A Psalm Of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was first published in October of 1838. The poet was a follower of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who gave great importance to living in the present. Longfellow has openly admitted that there is an influence of Goethe in his own work, and on this poem in particular.
The main themes in ‘A Psalm of Life’ are living in the present and the meaning of life. It celebrates individuality and the expression of emotion. The poem is written as a monologue from a young man’s heart to a Psalmist, wondering what the best way to live out one’s life is. It shows that the Christian ideal way of life may not be the only way to live, and strong individuality can still match up to Christian values.
There is a sort of universality in this poem, as it addresses a question that everyone asks at some point or another. What is the meaning of life? This poem is the convictions and emotions of a heart, expressing them to a Psalmist. It is an act of belief and an expression of hope and conviction.
The stanzas have exactly four lines, and this is called a quatrain. The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABAB, as every other line of each stanza rhymes.
What The Heart of A Young Man Said To The Psalmist
This is the subtitle to the poem. The poem is written from the perspective of a young man’s heart speaking to a Psalmist – a biblical writer. A person’s heart represents their emotion, so this poem represents the strong emotion of the heart calling out to the Psalmist, asking for answers, and displaying its convictions.
A Psalm Of Life | Summary And Analysis
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 1-4
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.
The poem begins with a feeling of despair, of the heart begging for something. He speaks to the Psalmist, asking him to say something different from life being an empty dream. The heart sees life as having infinite possibilities, so it cannot be just an empty dream. The mournful numbers may represent the numerous chapters of the Bible that the Psalmist teaches from. The heart refuses to believe that life is not meant to be full and says that a soul that slumbers – that does not live life to the fullest – is as good as dead. He says that things are not what they seem because what the Psalmist may teach about the true objective of life is not the only path that life may follow.
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 5-8
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.
He exclaims, seemingly to bolster himself, and also to convince the Psalmist that life is real, it has a purpose. He insists that life is earnest, intense and that the main objective of living is not just to die. He has a positive outlook on life and shows that through his exclamations. The adage: from dust we came and to dust we return, is mentioned here, and this is a Christian belief that the heart wholeheartedly rejects. This may be true of the body, but the soul lives on. The soul is capable of experiencing life.
In this stanza, “life” itself is personified. “The grave is not its goal” implies that the concept of life is a living thing with goals of its own.
In the first line, the literary device Anaphora is used. An anaphora is a repetition of a sequence of words to emphasize them. Here, “Life is real! Life is earnest!” emphasizes the heart’s belief that there is meaning to life other than just waiting for death.
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 9-12
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
He speaks of what he believes the meaning of life is. He clarifies that he does not think living a life of pleasure and indulgence is the need, nor is boundless sorrow. The heart believes that we are destined to move ahead, to be better than we were yesterday. Life is not meant to think about one’s joy or sadness. That could not be. The main meaning of life is to move forward and grow.
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 13-16
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.
What men create will live longer than them. “Art is long” means that what people make, books, poems, paintings, will be part of the world even after they’re gone. “Time is fleeting” reinforces the knowledge that human life is transient. Though we live our lives to the fullest and our hearts may be strong, every heartbeat is like a drum that is part of a funeral march, taking us to the grave as we grow older. Every beat means we are ageing, so whatever we do, death is inevitable.
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 17-20
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!
He sees living life as a battlefield. He urges us not to let life flow past us, but instead participate and accomplish something and live fully. A bivouac is a temporary camp used by soldiers and the use of this shows us, again, that life is temporary. He wants us to not live blindly, to recognize that we needn’t live like dumb cattle, and can have our individuality. He urges us to be a hero in the battle, to properly live and not be happy just surviving.
Here, imagery is used in comparing life to a broad field of battle. The poet wants us to fully visualize that it will be a struggle, but a struggle that is worth being a hero for.
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 21- 24
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!
Life is unpredictable, there’s no way for anyone to ever really know what’s to come. So, trust no future, however positive or good it may seem. Additionally, do not dwell on the past. Let the past resolve itself and remain there, do not bring it into the present. What one should do is live in the present.
It is a call to action to “Act- act in the living present”. This could also mean that we should not look ahead to Heaven and assume all will be well after death. Instead, we should follow our hearts and know that God is watching over us.
Here, the past is personified, as though it is undertaking the action of burying its dead.
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 25-32
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.
We are all capable of leading lives to achieve and accomplish great things, as is proven by the lives of great men all across the world, throughout the years. Even after we die, we leave footprints, we show the way. These footprints that show the way may help someone else who is on the brink of giving up, or who is directionless. They may see our lives and be inspired to live theirs. Life’s solemn main refers to an ocean where people may be lost, and the lives we live will inspire them to live sublime lives and escape from the gloomy ocean with a new purpose and vigor for life.
A Psalm Of Life | Analysis, Lines 33-36
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
And so, with this knowledge, let us not waste time, and not procrastinate, let us get up and let us do our work. We should be ready for what fate brings us, yet we should not try to plan for and achieve a specific fate. Through our readiness, we should still pursue and accomplish what we can. We should learn to labor without expectation of immediate results, and hence we should learn to wait as well. We must be patient and work consistently. We can live rich, fulfilled lives and still match up to Christian values. Life is not a long waiting game for death. True life is now, in the present, and not somewhere in the future.
The Psalm of Life | About the Poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in 1807. He is well-known as a poet and educator. Longfellow’s most famous poem is “The Song of Hiawatha”. Some other works of his are “Paul Revere’s Ride’ and “Hyperion”
Longfellow is the only American poet whose bust is placed in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey, along with other well-known names like Charles Dickens and Geoffrey Chaucer.
He died on March 24, 1882, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
