Autograph manuscript signed, fair copy of the poem "A Psalm of Life

Np, 1850. 9 stanzas, 36 lines. 3pp., folded small 4to sheet. Signed at the end. Old folds, minor repair to short separation. 9 stanzas, 36 lines. 3pp., folded small 4to sheet. Signed at the end. One of Longfellow's most famous poems, written after the death of his wife and first published in 1838. Although brief excerpts were frequently written by Longfellow for autograph seekers, the complete transcript is rare. The poem begins:

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 (truncated) 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 to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day. (Inventory #: 346694)