Gaurav Mittal's Poetry (21 Mar 2019)

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Dunia mai pyaar ke hai chehrey bahut,

Kuch dhundhley to kuch sunhairey bahut.

Koi khota hai, toh koi paataa hai,

Kisi ko mil jaataa, toh koi dhundta hai bahut.

Mohlat ho toh milte rehna dost kyuki is duniya mai khushiyo ki keemat hai bahut,

Mauka mile ud jaanaa uuchaiyo talak, yaha aasman hai chhotaa or parindey hai bahut.

Mera Safar (Poem by Himanshu Panwar)

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Dated: 16 Mar 2019

Bees-baayis panno ki hai meri kahaani,

Bolta hu aaj mai apni zubaani.

Paida hua jabse lagi thi ek daud,

Bhagi see zindgi ne liya ek mod.

Diploma khatam kiya, degree hui shuru,

Job ke silsile mein khoya apna guroor.

Premika bi mili, par sambhal na sakaa,

Samaaj ki duvidha se apna na sakaa.

Zindagi chalti gayi, samay apnaa gayaa,

Par haasil kuch bi na kiya.

Kawaaishe thi, aaraam bi the,

Udd na sakey kyuki par na the.

Ghar bi yu chhoda, ki wapis na gayaa,

Chand paise ke liye dur apno se hua.

Umar badhti gyi, samay kaat taa gayaa,

Shaadi ki umar mein main kaam kartaa gayaa.

Ho gayi shaadi, ho gaye bache,

Ab har jagah hi ghar ke the charche.

Bade hue bache, ban gye kaabil,

Par abhi tak mai dhundh raha tha sahil.

Umar hui zyada, thak saa gayaa mai,

Aaram ki chahat me tham saa gayaa mai.

Ab na haath chalte, naa chalte per,

Laathi ke sahaare se zindagi chal rahi thi kher.

Waqt ab reth ki tarah fisalta gayaa,

Khatam hui zindagi, bahaaya mai gayaa.

A Psalm of Life

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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 tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

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 solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

---

The Enduring Wisdom of "A Psalm of Life"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life," first published in 1838, stands as one of the most widely read and memorized poems in American literary history. Composed during a period of personal grief following the death of his first wife, Mary Storer Potter, the poem emerged from darkness as a defiant affirmation of human purpose and agency. Its nine quatrains have since offered generations of readers a philosophical framework for confronting mortality without surrendering to despair.

The poem opens with a direct challenge to pessimistic worldviews. Longfellow rejects the notion that "Life is but an empty dream," arguing that such thinking belongs to souls that "slumber" rather than engage fully with existence. This opening salvo establishes the poem's central tension between passive resignation and active participation. For Longfellow, merely existing is not enough; life demands earnest engagement precisely because it is real and finite.

The second stanza introduces what scholars identify as the poem's theological anchor. By distinguishing the body ("Dust thou art, to dust returnest") from the immortal soul, Longfellow borrows from Christian tradition while redirecting its emphasis. The grave is "not its goal"—our earthly sojourn possesses meaning beyond mere preparation for afterlife. This repositioning allows Longfellow to celebrate worldly action as spiritually significant rather than spiritually distracting.

Perhaps the poem's most enduring contribution appears in the third stanza: "But to act, that each tomorrow / Find us farther than today." Here Longfellow articulates a philosophy of incremental progress, where value resides not in arrival but in movement itself. The metaphor of journey—"farther than today"—suggests that fulfillment emerges from sustained effort rather than final achievement. This proved particularly resonant in nineteenth-century America, where westward expansion and industrial transformation made progress both cultural obsession and lived reality.

The middle stanzas deploy striking military imagery. Life becomes "the world's broad field of battle," a "bivouac" where temporary encampment demands vigilance and courage. The comparison of hearts to "muffled drums" beating "Funeral marches to the grave" acknowledges mortality's inevitability while refusing morbid fixation. Longfellow's famous command—"Be not like dumb, driven cattle! / Be a hero in the strife!"—transforms existence from victimhood into vocation. Heroism, in this formulation, requires not extraordinary feats but conscious choice: the decision to participate rather than drift.

The poem's penultimate stanza contains its most quoted lines. The "Footprints on the sands of time" metaphor elegantly captures Longfellow's vision of intergenerational influence. We matter, he suggests, not because we endure but because we might inspire others who follow. The "forlorn and shipwrecked brother" who "shall take heart again" embodies poetry's own aspirational power—language as rescue, example as encouragement.

Longfellow concludes with practical synthesis: "Let us, then, be up and doing, / With a heart for any fate." The final line's apparent paradox—"Learn to labor and to wait"—reveals mature wisdom. Action and patience, striving and acceptance, prove complementary rather than contradictory virtues. This balanced closing distinguishes "A Psalm of Life" from mere motivational exhortation; it acknowledges that meaningful living requires both engagement and equanimity.

Contemporary critics sometimes dismiss the poem as overly didactic or sentimentally optimistic. Yet its enduring popularity across nearly two centuries suggests something more profound. In an age of unprecedented distraction and existential anxiety, Longfellow's call to "act in the living Present" retains urgent relevance. The poem asks neither for heroic sacrifice nor philosophical sophistication, but for the simple courage to participate fully in our finite days—to leave, however briefly, footprints worth following.

Tags: Poetry,Motivation,Book Summary,

Sometimes I Wish (Poem)

Sometimes,
I feel I want to go back in time... 

Not to change things, but to feel a couple of things twice..

Sometimes,
I wish I was a Baby for a while... 

Not to be walked in the pram but to see my Mother's smile

Some times,
I wish I could go back to school... 

Not to become a child but to spend more time with those friends, I never met after school..

Sometimes,
I wish I could be back in college... 

Not to be a rebel but to really understand what I studied

Sometimes, 
I wish I was a fresher at my work... 

Not to do less work but to recall the joy of the first pay cheque

Sometimes, 
I wish I could marry again all over... 

Not to change the partner but to 'feel' the ceremony better

Sometimes, 
I wish my kids were younger.... 

Not because they grew fast but to play with them a bit more

Sometimes, 
I feel I still had some more time to live... 

Not to have a longer life but to know what I could give to others

Since the times that are gone can never come back, let's enjoy the moments as we live them from now on, to the fullest..

Let's Celebrate our Life - Every Moment, Every Day! 🎉🎊🎈💃🏿

Tags: Poetry,

Do not go gentle into that good night (Dylan Thomas)

Do not go gentle into that good night
Dylan Thomas - 1914-1953
Dylan Marlais Thomas, born October 27, 1914, in South Wales, was the archetypal Romantic poet of the popular American imagination

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

"Do not go gentle into that good night" is a line referred too often in the 2014 movie "Interstellar".

In the 2014 movie Interstellar, the poem is used repeatedly by Michael Caine's character Professor John Brand, as well as by several other supporting characters. In the same movie, leading actors Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway are sent into hypersleep with the final words "Do not go gentle into that good night." In the deluxe edition of the film's soundtrack, actors John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey, and Mackenzie Foy recite the poem with a soft vocal accompaniment scored by Hans Zimmer, the composer of the film's soundtrack.

Ref 1: wikipedia
Ref 2: YouTube
Tags: Poetry

Slow Dance (by David L Weatherford)

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Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.


Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask "How are you?", do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.


Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
'cause you never had time to call and say hi?

You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.


When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
it's like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life isn't a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.

Poem by: David L. Weatherford

Don't Quit by John Greenleaf Whittier

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When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a fellow turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.