Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "A Psalm of Life" - Read

Question 1

language awareness

Answer 1

• remember that style of language is often different from what we read, write, and speak today
• words often shortened to follow particular pattern/meter

Question 2

the fireside poets wrote in the context of american romanticism, which included

Answer 2

revering nature, promoting individualism, and advocating the idea of being true to oneself

Question 3

which lines from Longfellow’s poem “A Psalm of Life” would you cite to show the American romantic characteristic of emphasizing the importance of the individual – of taking life into one’s own hands

Answer 3

19-“Be not like dumb, driven cattle! be a hero in the strife!”

Question 4

which lines from Longfellow’s poem “A Psalm of Life” would you cite to show the American romantic characteristic of emphasizing the importance of the individual – of taking life into one’s own hands

Answer 4

11-“But to act, that each to-morrow find us farther than today”
23-“act – act in the living present! heart within, and god o’erhead”

Question 5

what line in longfellow’s poem suggests that we should be content no matter what ends up happening to us

Answer 5

line33- “let us, then, be up and doing, with a heart for any fate;”

Question 6

when longfellow uses hyphenated words like howe’er and o’erhead he is

Answer 6

shortening the words for better meter

Question 7

longfellow, along with james russell lowell, oliver wendell holmes, john greenlead whittier, was one of the

Answer 7

fireside poets

Question 8

which lines from Longfellow’s poem “A Psalm of Life” would you cite to show the American romantic characteristic of emphasizing the importance of the individual – of taking life into one’s own hands

Answer 8

line 25”lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime”