Allusions In Psalm Of Life

Robert Frost and William Shakespeare have been celebrated by many people because of their ability to express themselves through the written word. Here we are years after their deaths analyzing these fascinating poems about life and death. It’s clear they had similar thoughts about this subject at the time of these writings, even though their characters could not have been more opposite. For both poets, life is too

It’s everywhere, on T.V, in movies, on billboards, it’s so well-known that even children are pretty familiar with it. Politicians, also, take this into consideration when disusing new polices and laws. So what is “it”, well it defiantly isn’t Stephen Kings book, even though it’s now widely well spread due to the new movie; “it” is actually the Bible. Writers tend to feature Biblical imagery quite often, though this doesn’t necessarily mean it holds a religious meaning. As well as “borrow” stories from the Bible, Thomas F. Foster goes in depth to into these matters in his book How to Read like a Professor.

This strategy is meant to appeal to the reader's emotions by bringing up the touchy subject of death and also the purpose of life. Thoreau believes, if we are living, we should seek reality and business, or the harsh and cold touch of death. Thoreau’s statement makes the reader evaluate their beliefs and purpose, “Be it life or death, we crave only reality. If we are dying, let us hear the rattle in our throats and feel the cold in the extremities; if we are alive, let us go about our business.” (Thoreau,66) Humans must seek the truth even if it means life or death. If a man wants reality, it might take some hardships and devastating moments. Thoreau uses parallelism when he repeats “let us” in grammatically similar ways; this emphasizes the importance of truth both in life and death and relates to Thoreau’s perspective of what makes a man truly free. If a man is free, he always seeks the truth even if it requires a great deal of devotion and

In Psalms 34:17-20 it says “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” I believe this is a great symbolic allegory of the darkness that slavery birthed into our world. Each of these were bonded together in hopeless but in each case and region had different difficulties that had to face. Each using their life story to be a beacon of hope to others that freedom was within reach

After meditating on Psalm 1, I gained new insight in regards to the kind of life I want to live. This passage compares two different lifestyles, one that will lead to an abundance of blessings and one of destruction. The difference simply boils down to whether or not you delight in God’s word. Meditating on this passage was eye-opening in several ways. I realized how little I willingly read and enjoy Scripture. Most of the time I don’t even bother reading Scripture unless I am almost forced to. The two times you can find me opening up the Bible is when it is for a class or when I am at church on Sunday. This was utterly astounding for me to realize, but it is the sad truth. I do not want to feel forced to read the Bible, I want to truly enjoy it and think about it often. I want reading the Bible to become a habit that I will continue for the rest of my life.

I sing of mercy and justice: to you, LORD, I sing praise. I study the way of integrity; when will you come to me? I act with integrity of heart within my royal court. I do not allow into my presence anyone who speaks perversely. Whoever acts shamefully I hate; no such person can be my friend. I shun the devious of heart; the wicked I do not tolerate. Whoever slanders another in secret I reduce to silence. Haughty eyes and arrogant hearts I cannot endure. I look to the faithful of the land; they alone can be my companions. Those who follow the way of integrity, they alone can enter my service. No one who practices deceit can hold a Post in my court. No one who speaks falsely can be among my advisors. Each morning I clear the wicked from the land, and rid the LORD’s city of all evildoers (The New American Bible, Psalm 101.1-8). An important allusion in O Pioneers is the one made to the 101st Psalm. The 101st Psalm is alluded to when Ivar repeats the verse in part five, chapter one. In the verse, David gives his guidelines for living life. This scripture was of the utmost importance in olden times, as many people memorized it and implemented David’s guidelines in their own lives. This scripture expanded on the novel’s theme of Christianity and drew my interest because I have similar views as some of the characters.

In the first part of the poem Longfellow talks about his life being halfway over and everything that stopped him from really living his life. In the very first couple of lines he says “I have let the years slip from me and have not fulfilled the aspiration of my

“…the naked riders leaning forward…They rode up out of the river among the willows…” –page 45

The author wants the audience to do something with the time they are given and to realize that life is more than just a blank slate waiting to be filled up. Another primary focus in this poem in the beginning is when Longfellow is setting the stage and mentions how he believes humans should end their life. “Not enjoyment, and not sorrow / Is our destin’d end or way,” was Longfellow’s way of communicating the thought that people are not striving to end life in happiness or in sorrow, but rather to end it having felt accomplished (9). These several lines that seem to be aimed toward the dead are really geared more towards the living than anybody. They are targeted towards those who are living, but not acting like it - so, someone who lazes around and neglects all responsibilities. Finally, in the line immediately preceding the one just stated, Longfellow mentions the harsh realities of life. “Life is real - life is earnest,” meaning that things are not always going to be okay and may seem like they are too difficult to handle, but, the whole purpose in life is to be able to rebound from these times. A Psalm of Life was published around 1838, and just three years before, Longfellow’s wife died due to miscarriage complications. By understanding that this poem was written as a form of therapy to the author in how he chose to handle a harsh situation, readers are able to specifically grasp the

In today’s world it is difficult to read any piece of literature that has not been at least minorly impacted by a piece of literature that has come before it. In fact, many stories published today incorporate elements of past works or reference them directly in a literary device known as allusion. One of the most commonly alluded to literary works is the Christian Bible, one of the oldest books to be published in the common era. Because the Bible is often alluded to in other literary works, it has been analyzed by countless scholars in many different ways. The most important way, that is, the way in which Norman W. Jones analyzes the Bible is in a literary manner. Because of this, this review will focus on Jones’s literary connections and the

There are many poets that have been writing some of the most amazing poems in the world for years upon years. Poetry is a great way to write about some of the most meaningful things in one’s life, without directly having to state what you’re trying to say some of the times. A lot of poets write about events within their lives as well as things in everyday life in the lives of everyone in the world. The poems “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and “Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) both use great diction and varying tone in their poems to portray their individual perspectives about life.

The Bible is the Holly Book, composed by many text from different authors. The number of texts in the bible depends to the version. The Bible has two main parts, the ancient and the new testament. The Psalms, which are the object of our research paper, belong to the ancient testament. The Norton Anthology world literature offers us the King James version of the psalms, which played a key role in the literature. For our assignment, we will explore the historical context that lead to the writing of psalm, the information about of the author, themes treated by the psalms and the significance of those psalms in the world’s literature.

The author of Psalm 78 writes with intentions of giving hope to people after the Northern disaster in 721 BCE. He is attempting to get the people to not lose their faith in God. He does this by reminding his readers of three key things, the first being how much both they and their ancestors disobeyed God. This is an attempt by the author to show the people it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. You cannot continue to disobey God and expect him to keep providing for you. The second reminder is about Gods power. Throughout this Psalm the reader is reminded of Gods divine power, and the past miracles that have been bestowed on the Israelites. The third and final reminder comes at the end of the Psalm, where the people are reminded that God handpicked the tribe of Judah, and handpicked David. This reminds the people to never forget they are the chosen people and God handpicked them. All three of these themes combine to produce the authors message-- As long as we trust in God we will be ok, we are the chosen people, and we have the greatest and most powerful God there could be.

Eternal life thus defeats death and throughout the poem, John’s strong background of Christianity allows him to associate death with temporary entities as he refers to death as a state of “much pleasure” (7). Death is conceptualized as a phase rather than an element which represents finality. Death is personified and therefore has no greater power over human beings. Death losses its fearful connotation and achieves a new meaning that makes it less intimidating and less powerful.

There are 150 psalms in the Book of Psalms that were written over the span of 800 years. Most of the Psalms written were made to be sung. There are two main genres of Psalms, which are laments and hymns. David is know to have written 73 psalms, Asaph wrote 12, the sons of Korah wrote 11, Solomon wrote 2, Moses wrote 1 and 50 are anonymous . Although 50 were anonymous, David was certainly the author of the majority of the Psalms.