A New Criticism Interpretation of A psalm of life

【Abstract】：A Psalm of Life is one of the famous poems by Wadsworth Longfellow. The author of this paper will appreciate the poem from the perspectives of rhyme， figures of speech， and theme. The poem has enjoyed a good reputation for its artistic features and positive theme. And this paper will analyze the beauty of the poem’s form and content.

【Key words】： Rhyme， figures of speech， theme

There are only a few papers analyzing the lyrical poem called A Psalm of Life. And among the existing limited number of papers， I find that many writers interpret the poem from perspectives of background of the author or his time， lexical and syntax， and the like. However， it hasn’t been interpreted through any kind of literary theory. So this paper will appreciate the poem by using New Criticism theory， which only focuses on the text.

A Psalm of Life belongs to the genre of poetry called “Carpe Diem” poems. Longfellow makes an earnest appeal to his readers not to worry about the past or fantasize about the future but to take maximum advantage of the present to achieve something valuable and worthwhile.

And this will appreciate the poem from three aspects： rhyme， figures of speech （including contrast， metaphor and allusion） and theme.

1.Rhyme

The most conspicuous feature is that the poem uses alternative rhyme pattern. For example， The last words of the first stanza are “numbers”， ”dream”， ”slumbers”， ”seem”. The first and third line has the same end rhyme， so do the third and fourth line. And the whole poem adopts such an alternative rhyme pattern， which makes it artistically to readers both in sight and meaning.

Besides， the poem uses alliteration， take the following sentences for examples， ” and the grave is not its goal”， ”was not spoken of the soul”， ”for the soul is dead that slumbers”， ”me and mournful”. The alliteration adds cadence to the poem.

To sum up， through the use of rhyme， including alternative rhyme pattern and alliteration， the poem trips off the tongue and impresses me a lot.

2. Figures of speech

●Contrast

The use of antonyms impresses readers and makes readers have a clear understanding of the meaning. For instance， readers know that we should hold positive attitude towards life and take actions by the contrast implications of “pursue” and “wait”， ”sorrow” and ”enjoyment”， ”past” and” present” . All the antonyms make it easier for us to understand what messages the poet intends to convey. Take the “Let the dead Past bury its dead！ Act-act in the living Present！” as an example， it makes us understand that we should take maximum advantage of the present to achieve something valuable rather than worry about the past.

Besides， from the antonyms， I conclude three groups of contradictory images： life and death， acting and waiting， negative and positive， which are relevant to the theme. I will talk about it in the “theme” part.

●Metaphor

There exist many metaphors. For example， in the line of “What the heart of the Young man said to the psalmist”， the poet compares the “heart” to a “person”， which brings the poem closer to readers because it makes us feel like communicating with the poet rather than being educated like a student.

And in the line， “For the soul is dead that slumbers”， it actually compares a person who holds negative attitude towards life to a walking dead. The poet calls on us to live active and full lives instead of letting life to slip away

Moreover， in the line of “In the world’s broad field of battle”， the poet compares “life” to “a broad field of battle” and encourages us to be a “hero” in our life.

●Allusion

This paper finds three allusions. Firstly， “Dust thou art， to dust returnest” quotes from Bible. And the following line is “was not spoken of the soul”. The poet intends to convey the message that the soul is eternal. It has the ability to progress， to move forward， and to seek activity. Therefore， we should make efforts to enrich our soul.

Secondly，“Art is long， and Time is fleeting” quotes from Greece. The poet wants to say that we should treasure our time and take positive actions since our life is short but our mission is vast.

Thirdly， “Not enjoyment， and not sorrow” quotes from American Puritanism， which is followed by “Is our destined end or way; But to act， that each tomorrow， find us further than today”. Longfellow urges individuals to act and to progress. To be better is our mission.

3. The theme

This poet urges individuals to engage in activity. Life allows for achievement and for pursuit， and the individual can “Learn to labor and to wait.”

And the final stanza concludes the theme of the poem， which is also of great significance to us nowadays， that is we should always hold positive attitudes towards life and be ready for any fate. We should keep on pursuing and achieving as well as learn to labor and to wait

A poem against death would be useless， but not a poem against those who might be called the living dead or people who are alive but seem dead on their feet because they have given up any but the most necessary struggle or challenge and instead seek comfort as their paramount goal.

4. Conclusion

From the above statement， the two most conspicuous features of the poem become clear. Firstly， the rhyme invests the poem with a beautiful melody. And readers feel happy to read the poem because of its lyrical and delightful rhyme. Secondly， the theme is obvious. The poet urges readers to go into actions and not to worry about the past or fantasize about the future but to take maximum advantage of the present to achieve something valuable and worthwhile

It has to be mentioned that the use of figures of speech makes it easier for readers to understand the theme.

Also， the author of this paper believes that the reason why his poetry enjoys the most readers during his time has much matter with Longfellow's simple words.

Besides， readers can easily be inspired by the poet’s call and take immediate actions to progress.

Works Cited：

[1]Cleanth Brooks. American Literature The Makers and the Making[M].St Martin's Press， Inc， New York，1973.584-591

[2]Compiled by Pro.Liu Shoulan. American Poetry Reading Resource Book. Kunming. Yunnan Normal University， 2009.

[3] 郭天奎. 活個轟烈，死個安詳----朗費羅《人生頌》及《潮起又潮落》評析[J]. 涪陵師范學院學報，2005，21（4）：81