Life Mystery
Life is not often a bed of roses
It has ups and downs
Today is hopeful; tomorrow is gloomy
Today is Christmas; tomorrow is burial
Cheerful today; sad tomorrow
Journey of mixture of full joy and cry
Naming ceremony today; mourning tomorrow
Laughter today; frowns tomorrow
Life, a threat of impending evils
Sound health today; coma tomorrow
Life mystery that nobody can fathom
A friend of today that is no more tomorrow!
If you have today; you may not have tomorrow.
Briefs of the Poem
The poet describes life as something like a sword that has two sides: good and bad.
Life in which there may be hope today but hopeless tomorrow; cheerfulness today but sadness tomorrow; laughter today but frown tomorrow.
Life is a mystery that no one can understand. The poet advises that all should be careful because if you have today, someone else will have tomorrow.
Word List and Meanings
Gloomy: Sad and hopeless
Impending: An unpleasant event that is going to happen very soon
Threat: The possibility of trouble, danger, or disaster
Coma: Lack of energy
Fathom: Understand
Practice Questions
1. Explain the central idea of the poem.
2. What is the rhyming line of the last stanza?
3. Write the rhyming scheme of the poem.
4. Discuss briefly the rhyming patterns of the poem.