1st and 2nd stanza drama interpretation of A Psalm of Life by Henry Longfellow?

Question

Please, can anyone give me a drama interpretation of the 1st and 2nd stanza of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life"...?

It is badly needed by Thursday.. I'd really appreciate anyone's help!

Answer 1

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.

["Mournful numbers": Science. If you apply scientific principles, you might conclude that death brings an end to life, and, by definition a cessation of all functions of a living being, including, the capacity to dream. However, in this opening stanza, Longfellow immediately declares himself to be a believer in life hereafter. Human life, he declares, would not be life without the belief (the dream) of life hereafter. It is not clear how Longfellow might be able to support this conclusion, that is,., life is not life without a belief in the hereafter? Further, Longfellow dismisses rational argument by expressing the view that some things are beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.]

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.

[Proceeding on the basis that life cannot exist without the belief in the hereafter (begging the question) Longfellow then asserts that life is real (a proposition that is not much in dispute) and so Longfellow thinks: there is an everlasting soul.]

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us further than to-day.

[Eschewing Epicureanism, the Greek philosophy of pleasure for pleasure’s sake, Longfellow asserts that we proceed along a path, through a transition (death), to an everlasting life hereafter.]

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.

["Art is long, and Time is fleeting." Art is endless, immortal; and, man's life in his mortal frame, is measured by a discreet marker, time. The poet then repeats his established theme that our life proceeds to the grave and beyond.]