"Life"

Barbauld’s poem “Life” is extremely powerful yet inspirational because the reader gains an uplifting perspective on life. The narrator is having a discussion with life and the complete process of life which includes contemplating on life as a whole and death.

The narrator’s approach to death is quite refreshing because they know that the full circle of life includes both birth and death. Life must always come to an end because death is inevitable and the narrator has accepted this philosophy when they state: “Life! I know not what thou art, / But know that thou and I must part” (lines 1-2). It is interesting because many individuals are terrified of death; however, the narrator is not scared of death and seems to confront life that their time together will end soon. The narrator may possibly be embracing death because the narrator and life have “been long together” (23). When an individual has experienced a long life they are more open-minded to death. Everyone knows that life must end at some point but each individual assumes their life will end when they are of old age. I believe when you reach a certain point in your life you know that death is approaching soon and you must embrace the full process of life. The narrator has no grudges towards life and accepts everything that has happened within their life because they know that life is never always easy and enjoyable and is full of rough sections. To experience life fully one must go “through pleasant and through cloudy weather” (24). One must embrace that life is full of hardships but that is the full process of life, one must experience bad times to know the value of a wonderful time.

The full process of life also includes not knowing when life will leave. Life is extremely unpredictable; therefore, when life decides to come to an end is a mystery as well. It seems that one cannot control life and life has a mind of its own because it will “then steal away, give little warning,/ Choose thine own time” (27-28). Even though we are living our own lives and each have individual control over our lives we never truly have complete power over life. It is a pretty powerful concept for our lives to end at any moment without our control.