A Psalm of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but ①an 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 ②spoken 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!
