A Psalm of Life

Figure of Speech:

Alliteration:

Tell me not, in mournful numbers – m

Tell me not, in mournful numbers – n

For the soul is dead that slumbers – s

And the grave is not its goal – g

Was not spoken of the soul – s

But to act, that each to-morrow – t

Find us farther than to-day – f

In the world’s   broad field of battle – b

Be not like dumb, driven cattle – d

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main – s

With   a heart for any fate; – f

Learn to labor and to wait – l

Allusion:

Dust   thou art, to dust returnest – Biblical

Let   the dead Past bury its dead – Biblical

Simile:

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Be not like dumb, driven cattle

Metaphor:

Life is but an empty dream

In   the bivouac of Life

Footprints   on the sands of time

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main

Personification:

For   the soul is dead that slumbers

And   our hearts, though stout and brave

Let   the dead Past bury its dead!

A   forlorn and ship wrecked brother

Oxymoron:

Not   enjoyment, and not sorrow

Anaphora:

Life is real! Life is earnest

Dust thou art, to dust returnest

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow

Let   the dead Past bury its dead

Repetition:

Act,—act in the living Present

Still achieving, still pursuing

Rhyme Scheme: ab ab.

Rhyming words:

Numbers, Slumbers – dream, seem – earnest, returnest – goal, soul – sorrow, tomorrow – way, today – fleeting, beating – brave, grave – battle, cattle – life, strife – pleasant, present – dead, overhead – remind us, behind us – sublime, time – another, brother – main, again – doing, pursuing – fate, wait.