PER.

[Notes:_William Cowper_ (born 1731, died 1800), the author of 'The
Task,' 'Progress of Error,' 'Truth,' and many other poems; all marked by
the same pure thought and chaste language.

This poem is written in what is called "blank verse," i.e., verse in
which the lines do not rhyme, the rhythm depending on the measure of the
verse.

_To the sweet lyre_ = To the poet, whose lyre (or poetry) is to keep
their names alive.

_The Historic Muse_. The ancients held that there were nine Muses or
Goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences; and of these, one was
the Muse of History.

_Gives bond in stone, &c._ = Pledges herself. The pith of the phrase is
in its almost homely simplicity, the more striking in its contrast with
the classical allusions by which it is surrounded.

_Her trust_, i.e., what is trusted to her.

_To anticipate the skies_ = to ennoble our life and so approach that
higher life we hope for after death.

_Till persecution dragged them into fame_ = forced them by its cruelty
to become famous against their will.

_No marble tells us whither_. Because they have no tombstone and no
epitaph.]

* * * * *

A PSALM OF LIFE.

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
Finds us farther than to-day.

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.

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!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act--act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;--

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's