The Tide Rises Tide Falls

There are certain concepts within life that the human mind has trouble understanding. It is these concepts that often appear in famous literature. American writers often struggled to gain popularity when competing with Europe and the first notable group to break the chain was the Fireside Poets. This group was made up of four famous poets and their most famous poems have a common theme: death. The poems in question are Longfellow's “ A Psalm of Life” and “ The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” and Lowell’s “ The First Snowfall”. Each is about death and the different ways of viewing a common occurrence in nature.
“ A Psalm of Life” represents death as an end to life not a goal. During this time period, many wasted their lives in order to secure a spot in heaven. Death was their goal, however Longfellow believed differently. He states that “ Life is real! Life is earnest!/ And the grave is not its goal”. Life should be lived to its fullest potential and death should be seen as only an end. The duty is to leave a mark on the world and history not to fade away in the sands of time. To Longfellow life should be enjoyed and Death should not be awaited.
Another of Longfellow's poems “ The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” offers a different viewpoint on the concept of death. In the poem a man comes to town, leaving footprints in the sands behind him, but as time …show more content…
Lowell’s view shows the constant bearing death has on the mind and lives of those associated. The father can not help but to think of his lost child and is reminded of his lost joy every winter. These thoughts even expand to his other relationships, especially his other daughter “ Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her;/ And she, kissing back, could not know/ That my kiss was given to her sister,”. Losing a significant member in life is hard to get over and often stays in the recesses of the