{"id":91,"date":"2018-12-12T20:57:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T10:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/?p=91"},"modified":"2018-12-12T20:57:13","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T10:57:13","slug":"saying-goodbye-to-a-terrific-mentor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/?p=91","title":{"rendered":"Saying ‘Goodbye’ to a terrific mentor."},"content":{"rendered":"

I was at a memorial service today for a great local mentor who was so important to me as my early career developed. His granddaughter Tessa read this poem by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. I can’t remember hearing it before and I was so impressed by her reading and by Longfellow’s sentiment. Much better than the simplistic carpe diem<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

A Psalm of Life<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
\n
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<\/a> <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,<\/div>\n
   Life is but an empty dream!<\/div>\n
For the soul is dead that slumbers,<\/div>\n
   And things are not what they seem.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Life is real! Life is earnest!<\/div>\n
   And the grave is not its goal;<\/div>\n
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,<\/div>\n
   Was not spoken of the soul.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,<\/div>\n
   Is our destined end or way;<\/div>\n
But to act, that each to-morrow<\/div>\n
   Find us farther than to-day.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,<\/div>\n
   And our hearts, though stout and brave,<\/div>\n
Still, like muffled drums, are beating<\/div>\n
   Funeral marches to the grave.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
\n
In the world\u2019s broad field of battle,<\/div>\n
   In the bivouac of Life,<\/div>\n
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!<\/div>\n
   Be a hero in the strife!<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Trust no Future, howe\u2019er pleasant!<\/div>\n
   Let the dead Past bury its dead!<\/div>\n
Act,\u2014 act in the living Present!<\/div>\n
   Heart within, and God o\u2019erhead!<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Lives of great men all remind us<\/div>\n
   We can make our lives sublime,<\/div>\n
And, departing, leave behind us<\/div>\n
   Footprints on the sands of time;<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Footprints, that perhaps another,<\/div>\n
   Sailing o\u2019er life\u2019s solemn main,<\/div>\n
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,<\/div>\n
   Seeing, shall take heart again.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Let us, then, be up and doing,<\/div>\n
   With a heart for any fate;<\/div>\n
Still achieving, still pursuing,<\/div>\n
   Learn to labor and to wait.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Thanks to Don for everything that you taught me and I can see that you lived by Longfellow’s message to “Act, – act in the living Present”.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was at a memorial service today for a great local mentor who was so important to me as my early career developed. His granddaughter Tessa read this poem by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. I can’t remember hearing it before and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willblake.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}