For this quarter’s AP English Literature, I had to make a pretty tough decision on which poets I have to write about. It was a tie between Ralph Waldo Emerson and his transcendental approach to poetry and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his optimistic view on nature. Both were great poets but I ended up choosing Longfellow. His view on the nature and human life is straight forward and positive. Whereas, Emerson focus more on the complexity of transcendentalism and his poems are a lot harder to interpret.
I had previous knowledge about Longfellow and the first couple of things that came to my mind are his poems: The Cross of Snow and My Lost Youth. These were the poems that I know by heart. The first poem that I choose to analyze is A Psalm of Life. This poem describes how a person should live and not have any worries. We have to make the best out of our lives and seize every opportunity. Most of Longfellow’s poems do not have a specific setting or place. The purpose he is trying to convey is usually focused on the deeper meaning of his poems. The setting in the poems that I choose doesn’t play a significant role.
In the poem A Psalm of Life, the personification (Art is long, and time is fleeing) and metaphor (In the world's broad field of battle, in the bivouac of Life) all leads up to the main theme/purpose of the poem. A person shouldn’t really have to worry about the future or dying but look forward and live your life to the fullest. Catch every opportunity that is given to you. “Trust no future, Act-act in the living present.”
This poem shows Longfellow’s thanatological approach on life. He doesn’t fear death. Instead he believes that your soul truly flourishes in the afterlife and we should be more positive on life. Longfellow, Morrie Schwartz, and all other optimist have the same view: a life should never go to waste.
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