Be Not Like Dumb Then: Poem Analysis

The poem, I chose has a very optimistic point of view. It talks about life and how although we all are going to die eventually, and it’s no use dwelling on the past so you might as well live for now. This poem is interesting to me because, it gives me a different perspective on life now. This poem really relates with the world we live in because a lot of people have this kind of point of view. But also, some people feel so lost that they need to hear a positive message like this. I really like that it has a negative side, but that the postive side shines more. The whole poem has a kind of glass half full, instead of half empty kind of point of view.
Reading this poem was actually inspirational. The poem isn’t so complex that it’s not understandable, but it’s somewhat just clear enough to understand and just tricky enough to make you think about it for a few minutes. For example, the fifth stanza reads:
In the World’s broad field of battle
In the bivouac of Life
Be not like
dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
In the fifth stanza of the poem, it advises people not to be dumb followers, but to be heroes, and to strive to be somebody in life! The whole meaning of this poem is basically don’t just sit around be lazy and become a nobody, be bold, be optimistic and get out there a be best you can be! The poem also states the obvious, that yes our death is inevitable, but that besides the fact we need to see that as every reason to want to make this ‘temporary stay’ a sublime life. Reading this poem has inspired me to wake up every morning and be anxious to start a new day, so that I can be the best I can be in life. Next, there was a lot of imagery in this poem, which only made it more interesting to read. Because as I was reading I was able to envision a picture in my mind of what Longfellow was describing. In the fourth stanza it reads: 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.
When reading the second line of the stanza, I picture a big heart, standing tall and courageous ready to face and obstacle that dare come in it’s way. And as I read the third line of the stanza I heard the muffled beating of a heart. Lastly, as I read the last line of the stanza I felt as if I was marching to the grave myself, and I could smell wet grass as if it had rained the day before, I could also see the sky, abundant with dark grey clouds ready to release more showers upon the deceased who were laid to rest. There were multiple literary devices used in this poem. To name a few, similes, metaphors and personifications were used. The third line in the fourth stanza is one example of a simile. It reads, “Still, like muffled drums, are beating/Funeral marches to the grave.” Another literary device used was a metatphor, in line four of the seventh stanza, “Footprints on the sands of time.” Then, sound devices are used in the poem, including rhyme and alliteration.
These are usually used to make the poem flow better. The literary device rhyme is used in the third stanza: Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farhter than to-day.
The next literary device being used is an alliteration in the fifth stanza: 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.
Those are two examples of sound devices used in this poem. Lastly, when you put all of these literary, sound and imagery devices togther you get something amazing. It gives you a poem that lets you actually envision and hear what the author is describing in the poem. All of these devices creat a mood or feeling for the poem by making you see, hear and even feel and taste what’s going on in the poem. Without these descriptive devices poem wouldn’t be the
same.