Hi,

Here is one more of my favorite poems.

I think this one was in our textbook but, long after that textbook year also, I remembered it and especially the lines I highlighted below.

If you would like to know more about the poet, please use the link : – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow

A PSALM OF LIFE

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)    

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.

 

“Let us then be up and doing. ”

Even when we feel despair the poet urges us that we must go on living in our present and doing the best we can.

I feel that even reading such a lovely piece of poetry, gives you strength to carry on with a positive energy greater than before.

Hope you liked it too. Do let us know which are your favorite poems.

Rgds,

Poornima