Footprints,

on the sands of time.

These often quoted inspirational lines are a part of the poem ‘A Psalm of Life’, which was
composed by H.W. Longfellow, way back in 1838. This poem relates to the people from all
walks of life. It is an epitome of Longfellow’s philosophy on life. It is brilliantly crafted, and the
theme and ideas are excellently interwoven, very simple words are used but their meaning is
profound. It is a great inspirational poem. On 20th July it will be completing its 168th
anniversary. Still, it is a part of school syllabus and is loved.
It is a treatise on the art of living. It teaches that we should always strive to excel in whatever
we do. It seems to be in sync with Lord Krishna’s message in Bhagwad Gita, to live and to let
live, to do our duty because that is in our hands but success or failure is beyond us. Life is
precious, life is beautiful, not a single moment may be wasted as “Art is long and time is
fleeting” even in death the soul does not die but sleeps in slumber. We should not allow
ourselves to be driven like dumb cattle. One, whose soul does not stir at the prospect of
being an achiever, who does not nurture any hope is as good as dead, he has truly stopped
living. We should learn to live in present, and try to make it better and glorious, that is the
moment gifted to us by God that’s why it is called “Present”. The past is dead, it can not be
changed, the future however promising it may look, but we do not have any control over it, its
success can not be vouchsafed. “Act-act”is the clarion call given by Longfellow to the world.
Time at our disposal is very short, with each passing day we are moving towards our death,
so we should accomplish what we desire to, with faith in God.
Our accomplishments may pave a way for the forlorn destitute souls, who have lost track of
their rightful path. We may leave our footprints on the sands of time, we may set an example
for others to follow. We can make our life sublime it will inspire other people to know that
leading a life of fulfillment is worth living. On the whole, it can be categorized as a spiritual
poem.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow begins his poem "A Psalm of Life" with the same exuberance and
enthusiasm that continues through most of the poem. He begs in the first stanza to be told "not in
mournful numbers" about life. He states here that life doesn't abruptly end when one dies; rather,

it extends into another after life. Longfellow values this dream of the afterlife immensely and
seems to say that life can only be lived truly if one believes that the soul will continue to live long
after the body dies. The second stanza continues with the same belief in afterlife that is present in
the first.

Longfellow states this clearly when he writes, "And the grave is not its goal." Meaning that, life
doesn't end for people simply because they die; there is always something more to be hopeful
and optimistic for. Longfellow begins discussing how humans must live their lives in constant
anticipation for the next day under the belief that it will be better than each day before it: "But to
act that each to-morrow / Find us farther than to-day."

In the subsequent stanza, Longfellow asserts that there is never an infinite amount of time to live,
but art that is created during one's life can be preserved indefinitely and live on long after its
creator dies. In the following stanzas, Longfellow likens living in the world to fighting on a huge
field of battle.

He believes that people should lead heroic and courageous lives and not sit idle and remain
ineffectual while the world rapidly changes around them: "Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a
hero in the strife!" His use of the word "strife" is especially interesting, since it clearly
acknowledges that life is inherently difficult, is a constant struggle, and will never be easy.
Longfellow then encourages everyone to have faith and trust the lord and not to rely on an
unknown future to be stable and supportive.
 Ode on the Poets
This is the earliest of Keats’ odes. In fact, no other ode by Keats is dated earlier than this
one, which sings the praises
of some poets that he greatly admired poets who lived long before his time but whose literary
work survives them and reveals the greatness of their vision of life and art.
The poem has a simple rhyme scheme that goes aa bb cc dd and so on.The simplicity of the
meter and the rhyme scheme matches the unsophisticated sense of admiration that the poet
had for his heroes.
Keats says that the poets who wrote poems of love and joy have now left this world. But
they have left the impression of their immortality in their contents of their poetry. Thus, they
live in heaven as well as on earth. These poets therefore enjoy two fold immortality—one in
the heaven after their death and in their poems. These souls communicate with the other
heavenly bodies in heaven. There souls enjoy the music of heavenly bodies. They listen to
the sound of wonderful fountains, thunder like voice of God, and the rustling of trees in
heaven.
They sit comfortably in the beautiful lawns of heaven where only the fawns of Goddes
Diana are allowed to graze. There they enjoy the beauty of blue bells and of daisies having a
scent of roses. They listen to the songs of the nightangle, which express divine truth and
philosophical knowledge in a melodious manner.
The souls of the dead poets also live on earth through their poems. They teach us the
brevity of human life. Their literary works deal with the joys, sorrows, passions and hatred
of mankind. They reveal the glorious deeds of human beings as well as their shameful
aspects of human nature. We also learn what strengthens and weakens the human spirit.
Thus they impart wisdom to us although they have gone to the distant regions of heaven.
The poem is an exalted lyric in which the poet expresses the great contribution made by the
poets during their life.

his is the earliest of Keats’ odes. In fact, no other ode by Keats is dated earlier than this one,
which sings the praises
of some poets that he greatly admired poets who lived long before his time but whose literary
work survives them and reveals the greatness of their vision of life and art.
The poem has a simple rhyme scheme that goes aa bb cc dd and so on.The simplicity of the
meter and the rhyme scheme matches the unsophisticated sense of admiration that the poet
had for his heroes.
Keats says that the poets who wrote poems of love and joy have now left this world. But
they have left the impression of their immortality in their contents of their poetry. Thus, they
live in heaven as well as on earth. These poets therefore enjoy two fold immortality—one in
the heaven after their death and in their poems. These souls communicate with the other
heavenly bodies in heaven. There souls enjoy the music of heavenly bodies. They listen to
the sound of wonderful fountains, thunder like voice of God, and the rustling of trees in
heaven.
They sit comfortably in the beautiful lawns of heaven where only the fawns of Goddes
Diana are allowed to graze. There they enjoy the beauty of blue bells and of daisies having a
scent of roses. They listen to the songs of the nightangle, which express divine truth and
philosophical knowledge in a melodious manner.
The souls of the dead poets also live on earth through their poems. They teach us the
brevity of human life. Their literary works deal with the joys, sorrows, passions and hatred
of mankind. They reveal the glorious deeds of human beings as well as their shameful
aspects of human nature. We also learn what strengthens and weakens the human spirit.
Thus they impart wisdom to us although they have gone to the distant regions of heaven.
The poem is an exalted lyric in which the poet expresses the great contribution made by the
poets during their life.

After Apple Picking

obert Frost preferred to write within the traditional forms and patterns of English poetry,
scorning free verse, comparing
its lack of form and metrical regularity to playing tennis without a net. "After Apple- Picking" is
not free verse, but it is among Frost’s least formal works. It contains forty-two lines, varying
in length from two to eleven syllables, with a rhyme scheme that is also highly irregular;
many of the rhyme lines are widely separated. There are no stanza breaks. Frost intends to
evoke a mood of hesitation and drowsiness, as if the speakerwere about to drop off to sleep
and is no longer fully in control of his thoughts.
The poem is written in the first person; the speaker is someone who has worked long and
hard but is now on the verge of being overwhelmed by fatigue and the depth of the
experience. The details of his activity are recalled in contemplating the dream he expects to
have. The poem is filled with images drawn from the speaker’s experience with the pastoral
world; the events he remembers all took place on a farm, specifically in an apple orchard. He
has climbed a ladder to pick apples; even when he has finished, he can almost feel the
rungs of the ladder beneath his feet. The smell of the apples is pervasive, and he can still
hear the sound of the wagons carrying loads of apples into the barn.
All the sensory images are pleasant, but they have become distorted, as if the pleasant
dream could become a nightmare. The speaker finds that the large harvest for which he had
wished has become excessive: He has "had too much/ Of apple-picking." He recalls the
details of the work with pleasure, but he is half afraid of the sleep he feels coming on. On the
edge of sleep, he remembers not only the ripe apples successfully picked but also those that
fell and were considered damaged and had to be sent to the cider mill. He knows that his
sleep will be troubled by the failures more than by the successes. He is not sure about the
nature of the sleep he is about to drop into—whether it will be ordinary sleep, more like a
hibernation, or more like death.
Forms and Devices
The irregularities of line length and rhyme scheme, so unusual in a Frost poem, are
noteworthy; they provide an almost staggering effect to "After Apple-Picking," as if the
speaker were literally reeling with fatigue. More important, the meters are highly irregular,
especially in the frequent short lines: "As of no worth," for example, where two unaccented
syllables precede two stressed syllables, or "Were he not gone," in which every syllable
receives almost equal emphasis.
Reinforcing this impression of fatigue is the sense of disorientation which affects his senses:
Images of smell, sight, movement, hearing and touch are all used. The speaker’s vision is
compared to looking at the world through a thin sheet of ice which would distort and cloud
what was seen. He has been off the ladder for a while, but he still can feel its rungs under his
feet as well as its swaying. The apples he will see in his dreams are distorted, magnified to
show every mark. He still hears the sound of the wagons.
As is often the case in Frost’s poems, the language is poetic without being stilted. It is not
really the language of common speech—no colloquial language is used—but with the
carefully planned metrics, the language conveys the sense of someone speaking aloud. The
richness of the imagery, reinforcing the drowsiness of the speaker’s mood, also contributes
to this effect.
The entire poem is a kind of extended metaphor, in which the activity of harvesting apples
represents other kinds of activity, but Frost avoids metaphorical imagery, choosing instead
precise images and rhythmic patterns which tend to fall, reinforcing the dominant theme of
the fatigue of the narrator: "For all/ That struck the earth,/ No matter if not bruised or spiked
with stubble,/ Went surely to the cider-apple heap/ As of no worth." The language also
supports the sense that the experience being described has become excessive: "There were
ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,/ Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall."