"What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist"
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.
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
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
American (1807 - 1882)
Word And Meaning:
Psalmist - the author or composer of a psalm.
Psalm - Bible
Mournful - feeling, expressing, or inducing sadness, sorrowful, unhappy, heartbroken, regret, or grief.
Slumbers - sleep, be asleep, doze, rest, take a siesta, nap, take a nap, catnap, drowse.
Morrow - the following day, the time following an event,the near future.
Returnest - Return.
Bivouac - Shelter ( It's any of a variety of improvised camp sites used in scouting and mountain climbing)
Strife - Angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict.
Forlorn - Pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely.
Summary:
The speaker addresses the psalmist who claims that life is an empty dream. He implores readers to live in the present, let go of the past, He tells them to act like heroes in the struggles of day to day life and the speaker hopes that the reader will take heart in his assertions that life isn't just an empty dream. He calls upon the reader to strive and achieve in spite of the promise of death.
