A Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1838)
One of Longfellow's most quoted poems, urging the reader toward earnest, purposeful living.
Download the handwriting worksheet (PDF)Printable, ruled for handwriting: copy it by hand, then type it here.
About this text
Longfellow wrote "A Psalm of Life" in 1838, not long after the death of his first wife, though the poem itself avoids any direct mention of personal grief, arguing instead in general terms against resignation and toward purposeful action. It became one of the most quoted poems in 19th-century America and Britain, memorized in schools for generations, though its earnest, sermon-like tone has made it less fashionable with modern readers than Longfellow's narrative poems.
The poem is written as a series of direct commands and counter-arguments — "tell me not," "life is real," "let us, then, be up and doing" — addressed to an unnamed listener who never speaks back. Copying it means following an argument stanza by stanza rather than just admiring individual lines, since each quatrain answers or extends the one before it.
What to watch for
- 2 semicolons: a semicolon joins two complete thoughts that belong together, a pause longer than a comma but shorter than a period.
- 3 exclamation and question marks: ask the child how the sentence should sound when read aloud, and why the writer chose that mark.
- Old-fashioned words: thou, art. These are easy to "correct" by accident into modern spelling, so copy them exactly as written.
- Longest word: "Footprints" (10 letters). Try spelling it aloud once before reaching it.
- 16 lines averaging about 6 words each. A comfortable line length for a single sitting.
Full text (reference)
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.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.