‘A Psalm of Life: What the Young Woman Said to Her Husband’ by Gina Moriarty The Society April 3, 2016 Humor, Poetry After Phoebe Cary, after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Tell me not, in scolding shouts, Education is an empty dream, For the brain is dead that doubts, And things are not what they seem. Married life is real, earnest ; Though one must not forget to learn ; Taken from love, to love returnest, It has been spoken and you yearn — For enlightenment and wisdom, To each destined end or way ; But you must be bright and winsome In pursuit of graduation-day. School is long, and love is fleeting, But our brains, they ache for lore, Still, our souls deserve a-treating Of love and knowledge, an open door — To the world’s broad field of battle, To the bivouac of life, Be not like dumb, drive cattle ! Be a scholar, and a wife ! Trust no future, howe’er pleasant ! Let the dead past bury its dead ! Act, — act in the living Present : Heart within, a Diploma ahead ! Lives of slothfullness remind us We can spend our days the same, And, departing, leave behind us A life unfulfilling, such a shame;— Such a life, that perhaps another, Riding on life’s bumpy train, Seeing an unmarried brother, May choose him o’er training her brain. Don’t do that ! Be up and doing ! A good man will want you smart ; Don’t stop achieving, don’t stop pursuing, Labor to learn and follow your heart ! Gina Moriarity is a poet living in Belle Vernon, PA. Featured Image: “Astronomy,” by James Sant, 1850. NOTE: The Society considers this page, where your poetry resides, to be your residence as well, where you may invite family, friends, and others to visit. Feel free to treat this page as your home and remove anyone here who disrespects you. Simply send an email to mbryant@classicalpoets.org. Put “Remove Comment” in the subject line and list which comments you would like removed. The Society does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or comments and reserves the right to remove any comments to maintain the decorum of this website and the integrity of the Society. Please see our Comments Policy here. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.