"Lives Of Great Men All Remind Us We Can Make Our Lives Sublime"
Context: Like his English contemporary, Tennyson, Longfellow had the gift of being able to embody moral sentiments in easily-remembered words; and this gift accounted for his great popularity during his lifetime when such moralizing was desired in poetry. The theme of this poem, almost every line of which is quotable, is that our duty lies in accomplishment. We should not concern ourselves with the past or with the future; we should "act in the living Present." Great men have always done so, and by so doing have become inspirations to future generations. The poem is thus an answer to the doctrine of disillusionment and despair. Stanzas 7 and 8 follow:
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 solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
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