with the pain and suffering of our past. We are not to live in the past for being stuck in the past will get you nowhere. Then in the sixth stanza, Longfellow tells to be reminded of the lives of great men because we can make our lives sublime. This shows we should look at the heroes of the past, emulate them, and follow their leads. In doing this you yourself can become a hero and leave footprints on the sands of time. We must strive to make a difference in the lives of the future so we may live on forever. (Lines25-32, pg. 302) In the final stanza, Longfellow is prodding us to work toward achieving our goal no matter what the future holds. We must be up and doing and not sitting around watching life go by. We cant be afraid and we must live with a heart for any fate. He is saying that we must accept fate as part of the plan for the greater good of all man. We must never give up in achieving our goal because there is hope for the future. You have to keep on getting up after you fall and try again or you will never accomplish anything meaningful. Lastly, you must learn to labor and to wait. Hard work and patience is what Longfellow is calling for in this final line. He is encouraging us to work with our hearts full of optimism for a bright future. (Lines 34-36, pg. 303) I feel that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, after his wifes death, had an optimistic outlook in A Psalm of Life. It encourages you to go out and accomplish things. It seems he felt a new resolve to live a more fulfilling life after his depression lifted. He shows through his poetry a renewed interest in moving away from the past that had troubled him. Something in his life gave him expectations and hope to live each day to the fullest and be confident the future would not revisit him with more misery....
