Critical Analysis Of Longfellow's A Palm Of Life

“I was a poet and didn’t know because my feet were such long fellows.” This is a phrase that comes to mind when someone references Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In a composition class, Vaccaro once said, “Longfellow is pretty much absent from most primary schools’ and high schools’ curriculums, and forgotten from many undergraduate and graduate schools’ study programs. Longfellow is not given the appreciation he deserves.” In the case of Longfellow, I agree that he is underappreciated. A Psalm of Life is an amazingly uplifting and optimistic poem from a young man’s perspective on how life should be lived. However, My Lost Youth is in the point of view of an old man dwelling on his past and all of his youthful endeavors. Both, A Psalm of Life

Our narrator is at ease with the thoughts of country and nature as he remembers the beauty of the sounds and the town from his childhood. Whenever he dwells on his past, he is reminded of the beauty of that beautiful Maine countryside. The one memory that is the strongest, and the one referenced at the end of every stanza in the poem, is the final two lines: “A boy’s will is the wind’s will, and the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.” This phrase simply means that a boy’s will is similar to the winds, meaning it goes where it likes. There is no reason behind where the wind blows, nor is there a reason behind why a boy does what he does. Boys tend to be self-reliant. As a Publix employee, I can’t tell you the number of times a man has said, “I will not let a girl take out my groceries.” Maybe it’s the idea that men are supposed to provide for the ladies or that men are supposed to be self-reliant. Either way, men tend to take care of themselves. They also tend to be a bit destructive. That’s one reason that car insurance for a teenage boy is higher than for a teenage girl. Like the wind, a boy can be quite destructive. If you don’t think the wind is destructive, ask Hurricane Matthew. Most of the time, boys tend to be destructive when they try to

In the final stanza, he acknowledges that he found it. He found his lost youth by looking back on it. Looking on the past can give meaning to the present. Many critics tend to view the poem as the devastation of losing one’s youth, but that’s not what it means at all. The memories and choices of his past shaped his self and brought him to the point in his life where he can look back and smile. As long as he remembers that wondrous melody: “A boy’s will is the wind’s will and the thoughts of youth are long, long