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1 Oct 2021

A Psalm of Life

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

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.

4- 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,

8- Was not spoken of the soul.

 

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

12- 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

16- Funeral marches to the grave.

 

Which line from Longfellow's poem "A Psalm of Life" would you cite to show the American Romantic characteristic of the importance of the individual, of taking charge of one's life and making a difference?

A. 9- "Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way;"

B. 19-"Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!"

C. 14- "And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still...are beating Funeral marches to the grave."