LIFE IS REAL

 

                    LIFE IS REAL

                In his poem “A Psalm Of Life”, the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) says  life is not an empty dream; it is both earnest and real. Man is made of dust only in the physical sense. His soul is of an immortal stuff.  Dust thou art, to dust returnest, was not spoken of the soul. This view about the eternal soul reminds the Indian readers of Lord Krishna’s philosophy of  eternal life in the Gita.

            Longfellow also tells his readers that  life’s purpose is neither enjoyment, nor sorrow , but to act without thinking of what happened in the past or what may happen in future. The true aim of a man’s life is to leave on the sands of time such immortal footprints as will strengthen and inspire the coming generations.

What follows is an extract from the poem.

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 grave is not its goal.---

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each tomorrow

Finds us farther than today.---

Trust no future, howe’er pleasant !

Let the dead Past bury its dead !

Act –act in the living Present !

Heart within and, and God o’erhead;---

And departing , leave behind us

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing shall take heart again.

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

30 August 2025