what does dust thou art to dust returnest was not spoken of the soul mean?

A Psalm of Life

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is merely 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;
Grit yard art, to dust returnest,
Was non spoken of the soul.

Non enjoyment, and non sorrow,
Is our destined finish 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,
Nevertheless, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the globe'due south 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,— deed in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of smashing men all remind us
We tin can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, get out backside the states
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 middle again.

Permit us, then, exist up and doing,
With a center for any fate;
Still achieving, nonetheless pursuing,
Acquire to labor and to wait.

Summary of the Verse form A Psalm of Life

• Popularity of "A Psalm of Life": Written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a great American poet, and educator, "A Psalm of Life" is a famous pome on account of its explication the pragmatic view of life. It was offset published in 1838. The poem deals with the bailiwick of life and the possibilities it offers to human beings. It also encourages readers to live life to its fullest. Since its publication, it has gained immense popularity across the globe on account of its subject affair.
• "A Psalm of Life" "Equally a Presentation of Life": In this poem, the poet presents a highly optimistic view of life. The young speaker of the poem gives the psalmist advice to the readers on how they should lead their lives. To him, life is not a dull, impaired or empty dream but offers immense opportunities to fulfill our dreams. We tin can accomplish our goals by utilizing fourth dimension and working hard. He negates the teachings that lead us to a pessimistic outlook of life.  With his arguments, he tries to evidence the power and potential of life. He states that we should not spend life waiting for death. Rather, we should work diligently and devotedly to go out our name in the world. What enchants the readers is the message that life has an end and that nosotros should leave our marker on the infinite menstruum of time through our hard work.
• Major Themes in "A Psalm of Life": Life and hope are ii major themes of the poem, which the poet has incorporated using aplenty of literary elements. He says we should not mourn the past; instead, we should live the present moments of life to the fullest. He compares life with a battle saying that we should deed like a hero and surmount every obstruction that comes in our way. Throughout the poem, he intends to encourage the readers and urges them not to let the precious moments of life go in vain. He instructs them to go along a balance between happiness and sorrows and carve a ameliorate futurity for themselves.

Analysis of Literary Devices in "A Psalm of Life"

literary devices are tools that enable the writers to nowadays their ideas, emotions, and feelings and likewise aid the readers understand those more profound meanings. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow has besides used some literary devices in this poem. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem has been given below.

• Allusions: Innuendo is an indirect reference of a person, place, thing or idea of a historical, cultural, political or literary significance. Longfellow has used this device in the opening line of the poem such every bit, "Tell me not, in mournful numbers." Here the numbers refer to the capacity and sections of the Bible.
• Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the audio of /east/ in "Lives of bully men all remind us" and the sound of /i/ in "Still achieving, still pursuing".
• Imagery: Imagery is used to make the readers perceive things with their five senses. Henry has used visual imagery to conjure mental images such as, "In the world'due south broad field of battle" and "Footprints on the sands of fourth dimension".
• Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate subjects. He has personified the soul in the terminal line of the second stanza, "Was not spoken of the soul" as if the soul is human and it tin speak.
• Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the poem. Henry has repeated the word "life" to emphasize his feelings about life in the 5th line where information technology is stated as, "Life is real! Life is earnest."
• Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /r/ in "A forlorn and shipwrecked brother."
• Paradox: A paradox is a argument that may seem contradictory notwithstanding can be true, or at least makes sense. He has used this device in the 4th line where it is stated as, "And things are not what they seem." Hither he talks almost appearances versus reality.
• Parallelism: Parallelism is the employ of components in a judgement grammatically the same or similar in their construction, sound, meaning, or meter. This device is used in the second stanza where "Life is real" is paralleling "Life is earnest!" and again in the final stanza where "Still achieving" is paralleling "still pursuing".
• Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /due north/ in "Not enjoyment, and non sorrow".

The literary analysis shows that advisable employ of literary elements has fabricated it a thought-provoking for the readers despite its simplicity.

Assay of Poetic Devices in "A Psalm of Life"

Poetic and literary devices are the same, just a few are used only in verse. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

• Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are nine stanzas in this poem each having 4 lines in information technology.
• Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian Here, each stanza is quatrain as the outset one and the second one.
• Rhyme Scheme: The rhyme scheme followed by the entire poem is ABAB.
• End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to brand the stanza melodious. End rhyme occurs inside the second and third lines and again within the second and fourth lines. The rhyming words are "number", "slumber", "dream" and "seem."

Quotes to be Used

The lines quoted beneath can exist used in a speech to motivate the devastated people. These could also be used in religious sermons to elevate the courage of downtrodden masses.

"In the world'due south broad field of battle,
In the campfire of Life,
Be non like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!"

oliversurthe38.blogspot.com

Source: https://literarydevices.net/a-psalm-of-life/

Share this post