Life Doesn’t Frighten Me

Maya Angelou

            Maya Angelou was an American poet and an activist. She fought for the rights of the black people in America. All her poems and novels centre on themes such as racism and identity.  In her poem Life Doesn’t Frighten Me she lists out the things which one should not afraid of.

            The narrator of the poem is a young girl. She may be Maya Angelou herself. She says that she is not afraid of the shadows cast on the wall by the moonlight spreading strange figures. The noises heard by her in the hall also do not frighten her. She can hear the dogs barking down the street.  In the big cloud close to the moon she can see the figure of a ghost. Generally, children are frightened by these terrible figures and scaring noises but not the young girl.

            The young girl is lying on a bed and the bedspread has the image of a dragon breathing flame. But the girl is not afraid of it and rather says boo to it. Outside her window there are guys fighting. They are tough and violent. This doesn’t frighten her. Even panthers in the park and strangers in the dark frighten her little. She takes even the boys bullying her in the class by pulling her hairs or by showing frogs and snakes in a lighter way.

            The girl convinces herself that nothing can frighten her as she has a magic charm – a mantra which is powerful enough to let her walk on the ocean floor. The magic charm is nothing but fearlessness. This sums up the whole message of the poem that anything is possible if you can conquer fear.

           

A Psalm of Life

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

            ‘A Psalm of Life’ is an inspiring poem written by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem glorifies life and advises the mankind to follow the path of righteousness.

            The poet says that some pessimistic people consider life as unreal and empty.  They discard it as full of sadness. Such people are dead in their spirit. But the poet believes that life is real and interesting. Grave or death is not the destination of life.  The Bible says, “Dust thou art and to dust returnest”. This statement is applicable only to our body. After our death our body vanishes but the soul exists.

            Life means to act at present.  It is not for enjoyment or for sorrow.  We must not waste time in expecting a more suitable time to come.  At the same time, we should realise that yesterday is dead and tomorrow is far away.  Therefore, we must act right now.  When we act, we must keep faith in god and god will reward us for our act.

            Death envelops both the strong and the weak, the brave and the coward.  We are marching towards our grave.  We are losing our valuable period of life day by day. Life is also a battle field.  We are all soldiers in the world’s broad field of battle.  The poet urges us to be a hero in the battle.  We must not surrender.  We must not be driven like dumb animal in the battle of life.

            While we work, we have to follow the footprints of great men who lived in the past.  By following their noble ideals, we can make our lives great and sublime. Later, our lives will be recorded as examples for the future generation. If any person gets disappointed or fails in his attempt, he may look at the examples set by us and get adequate consolation.

            Therefore the poet advises us to get ride of laziness and be brave enough to face any situation in our lives.