![]() ![]() He understands that too many “Art is long,” there is much of it to see and not enough time to see it in. In the fourth stanza of ‘A Psalm of Life’, the narrator speaks about what life can seem to be. The narrator is confident in his beliefs and knows how to live his own life. There will be both of these emotions along the way, but the greatest purpose of life is “to act,” with the intent of furthering oneself and those around one. Additionally, he knows that “enjoyment” is not one’s predetermined destiny. The speaker continues his discussion of the purpose or point of life, He does not believe, nor will he even consider, the possibility that life is made to suffer through. When the words, “Dust thou art, to dust returnest” were spoken, he says, they were not in reference to “the soul.” He elaborates on this belief when he describes the ending of life as belonging solely to the body, and not to the soul. He believes that there is a reason to be alive other than getting to the grave. He exclaims for any to hear that “Life is real!” And it is “earnest!” He is enthusiastically supportive of the idea that life is worth living and that it is worth something real. The narrator continues on with what reads as a desperate attempt to contradict what he was afraid of in the first stanza. The person who analyzes the world so carefully (and in this particular manner) is making a mistake. He states that a “soul is dead” that is able to think of the world in this way. In the second half of the quatrain, and for the majority of the poem hereafter, the speaker is attempting to fight back against the idea that life can be broken down into flat, emotionless, numerics. The speaker does not see, nor does he want to understand the world in that way. He is asking his listener at this point to “not” tell him that “Life is but an empty dream.” He does not want this person to break down the statistics, facts, and “numbers” of life, in an attempt to make sense of it. He is close to the point of begging, desperate that his worst fears (which will be revealed as the poem continues) are not confirmed. The speaker of ‘A Psalm of Life’ begins by asking something of his listener. They must face life, and make the best of every day. The speaker comes to the conclusion that he, and the listener, must be prepared at any time for death, strife, or any trouble thrown at them. Because of this, it is important to do all one can in life to make one’s situation, and that of others, better. He describes the way in which he believes that no matter what death brings, the soul will never be destroyed. ![]() ![]() The rest of the poem is dedicated to the speaker trying to prove this unknown person wrong. The poem begins with the speaker contradicting a listener who wants to explain life to him as a matter of number and figures. ‘ A Psalm of Life‘ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow describes the purpose of life, and how one should handle the sorrow and struggles along the way. ![]()
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