A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow →

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This poem describes the purpose of life, and how one should handle the sorrow and struggles along the way. The phrase “Life is real! Life is earnest” suggests that the intent is to look ahead an offer help rather than back in remorse. I wrote about how this poem and Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poem, “The Winds of Fate”, both influences me in an unexpected way. As I worked with so many job seekers helping them to find jobs I felt as the poem mentions, “ things are not what they seem” and the power of this final stanza:

Let us, then, be up and doing,
   With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing
   Learn to labor and to wait.

Both of the poems influenced me to write a non fiction book: Work Matters: Insights and Strategies for Job Seekers in this Rapidly Changing Economy

A Psalm of Life

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
   Finds 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.

*See the post on “Winds of Fate”

The Winds of Fate, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox with analysis →

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"The Winds of Fate,” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

One ship drives east and another west,

With the self-same winds that blow.

’Tis the set of the sail, and not the gale,

Which tells us the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,

As we journey along through life;

’Tis the set of the soul that decides the goal,

And not the calm or the strife.

………………………………

Analysis

This short poem reminds us that we are all impacted by fate but still have choices. It brings some questions to our minds and leaves us asking which way the wind is blowing in our life journey.

Do the upheavals, ups, and downs leave you with tough choices? What do we do when the wind shifts entirely and there is no reliable forecast? We can change the set of our sails, but when, how much, and is more needed?

The ship is an effective metaphor for the lives and journeys of people. Each individual has their own choices on how they choose to be influenced by those things that happen. The wind is considered fate, but setting the sail is more important than the direction of the wind.

People pick very different goals and destinations, and life is about choices.

Additional Information

on how author Brent M. Jones used this poem

It was a strong influence on his book “Work Matters: Insights and Strategies For Job Seekers In This Rapidly Changing Economy.”. In addition, it would be helpful to consider this book before reading Embrace Life’s Randomness: Your Path to Personal Reinvention and Positive Change.

The set of the sail determines the direction the ship moves,, not the direction of the wind.