My grandfather Lauren Lee Alley passed away yesterday. Going through his old things, my father found a small note in his former happy place — the garage. Written, front and back on the small piece of yellow paper, in grandpa’s all-caps printing were two verses of poetry. As his grand-daughter I was surprised because, as far as I was concerned, grandpa was not known for being particularly poetic nor flowery of verse. As an english major, I was delighted and immediately got to researching. What I found was a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Turns out Longfellow was inspired to write this poem by one of those deep, late night conversations that, for me, are usually spurred by close friendships and glasses of wine. He and fellow professor at Harvard spent an evening “talking of matters, which lie near one’s soul — and how to bear one’s self doughtily in Life’s battle: and make the best of things.” The next day, Lonfellow wrote “A Psalm of Life.”
I found this piece particularly pitch perfect, given the recent events. I also want to take this chance to thank my Grandfather for leaving it behind for me to find and to take comfort in: