A Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807 to 1882
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. Take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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Footprints, that perhaps another,
In the world's broad field of battle,
Life is real! Life is earnest!
In the bivouac of Life,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Is our destined end or way;
We can make our lives sublime,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Funeral marches to the grave.
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And the grave is not its goal;
Be a hero in the strife!
Find us farther than today.
Lives of great men all remind us
Was not spoken of the soul.
And, departing, leave behind us
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Act,—act in the living Present!
But to act, that each tomorrow
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Footprints on the sands of time;—
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
What the heart of the young man said to the Psalmist
Life is but an empty dream!
And things are not what they seem.