Song of Life - Longfellow 1838

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Shirleypal
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Song of Life - Longfellow 1838

Post by Shirleypal » 10-10-2008 06:37 PM

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 the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken 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!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, — act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

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Chickadee
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Post by Chickadee » 10-10-2008 07:21 PM

Love it Shirley. I had completely forgotten Longfellow. Thanks for posting this.
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"We can't solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." – Albert Einstein

Shirleypal
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Post by Shirleypal » 10-10-2008 07:26 PM

You're welcome Chickadee, Thom Hartmann recited it today on his show.........I had forgotten about this poem and Longfellow also, he is a treasure.

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HurricaneJoanie
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Post by HurricaneJoanie » 10-10-2008 07:41 PM

Just what I needed today. Thanks, Shirley.
It's either real or it's a dream, There's nothing that is in between. ~ Jeff Lynne

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Iris
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Post by Iris » 10-17-2008 03:20 PM

Thanks, Shirley. I heard Tom recite it. Neat.
We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. B. Franklin

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