The+Tide+Rises,+The+Tide+Falls

2. "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In Henry W. Longfellow’s poem “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls”, he alludes to death as being an inevitable mystery that every living being must endure at the termination of life. He also implies that the initiation and termination of each day symbolizes a countdown to one's death. The speaker symbolizes death with the sea as; "the sea in the darkness calls"(7). Near the end of his life, he once again he seems to believe that life and everything that occurred during one's life is worthless because the sea will; "efface the footprints in the sand" (9). He believes that everything he accomplished during his life will be worthless once he passes on. The fact that he constantly uses "the tide rises and the tide falls" also alludes to the fact that nothing is everlasting. "The day returns, but nevermore returns the traveler to the shore"(13-14). His perspective on life seems to be that once you die, time and everyone else's life keeps on going without being affected, which alludes to the fact that he believes life and humans are insignificant. Near the end of his life, he believes humans only live to die.

1.  "A Psalm of Life" By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

At the commencement of the poem, the speaker seems to view life in a hopeless manner and seems to think that our purpose on earth is insignificant due to the fact that everyone must perish from this world at one point or another. He believes that “life is but and empty dream” (2). As the poem progresses, his attitude towards life greatly improves; “life is real life is earnest” (5). The reason for his inclusion of the pessimistic first stanza was to demonstrate how hurt he was due to the death of his wife; “tell me not in mournful numbers… the soul is dead that slumbers” (1-3). Though he later learns to cope with life and to live it in a purified and dignified manner; “heart within, and God o’erhead” (24). The speaker realizes that he must perform good deeds in order to leave a respectable and honorable example to follow for future generations. As the poem begins to go from pessimistic to optimistic it demonstrates how his perspectives of life progressively alter as he learns to value every second of life and make the best of it. This indispensable characteristic helps him to ultimately accept death and especially the death of his beloved wife.