One day recently I was feeling low, tired, weary, and teary. Then I happened to see an old book that had the last three stanzas of the Longfellow poem “A Psalm of Life” printed on the back of its cover. I have long loved that poem, and seeing those words stirred something in me.
I was reminded of other inspiring words/works that I love (such as Emerson’s “Self-reliance” essay) that, along with this poem, call for the reader to rise up and remember that there are things to fight for, reasons to be alight with a flame of purpose instead of wallowing in ennui.
The low-grade depression I’d been feeling lifted, and I felt inspired to rise up and keep on pursuing my goals and practices, the things I believe in and value.
So here I am now, posting this ringing gong of a poem in its entirety, because, as the poem says, maybe someone who reads it “shall take heart again.”
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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, 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.
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On the page
(not from the book this time, but from the journal entry behind what I wrote above)
That's a great poem--thanks for sharing it! And it's awesome that it reminded you what to reach for when you need a boost. I know how easy it is to forget in those low energy moments. ❤️✨