Live Your Life
By Chief Tecumseh
So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
Summary of Live Your Life
- Popularity of “Live Your Life”: Indigenous American born in Ohio, Chief Tecumseh was a Shawnee by birth. He ruled his tribe as its chief. Therefore, it was natural for him to be an anti-American native Indian. His death in 1812 led to disunity among the native Americans that he won after a hard struggle and fiery oratory against the American colonization of their native lands. This poem comprising single-liners, presents his advice to the leaders and public at large on how to improve their lives through learning different simple tips. The beauty and popularity of the poem lie in this aphoristic style.
- “Live Your Life” As a Representative of Living a Good Life: The tribal chief starts his aphoristic poetic output with a piece of advice about fear. He is of the view that a person should not fear death, and this fear should not enter his heart. After fear, he goes on to advise about religion. He is of the view that nobody should force or coerce others into different religions. Respect the religion of others and win respect for yours. His advice is that love your life, make it perfect, and make things beautiful with your love.
He goes on to spell out other suggestions, spelling out the purpose of life, living a good life, greeting others when meeting, and respecting others. He also advises us to thank God for good food, thank others for help and avoid abusing things or persons. He goes on to say that repentance over incomplete life could be avoided by living wisely and then moving to the other world with a satisfied heart. - Major Themes in “Live Your Life”: Love, respect for others, gratitude, and preparation for death are some of the major themes of “Live Your Life.” Chief Tecumseh has spelled out his entire philosophy of living a good life saying that when a person loves others, he also wins love in return and the same goes for respect, honor, and tolerance. Even it enters the arena of religion where no coercion works. Only tolerance for the religious ideas of others secures the same for one’s own religious ideas. This leads to gratitude for God Who has blessed man with everything from food to the joy of living. In this way, a person can prepare himself by earning the honor, love, and respect of others to die peacefully rather than feeling remorse and repentance and desiring to have more time.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Live Your Life
Chief Tecumseh has demonstrated his skill in using various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices he uses are as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart” and the sound of /i/ in “Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /t/ in “time to.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /l/ in “Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life” and the sound of /s/ and /h/ in “Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Chief Tecumseh uses imagery in this poem, such as “Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.”, “When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living” and “Sing your death song and die like a hero going home..”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used the metaphor of fear that which is equal to something that damages the heart after it enters it. It is rather an implicit metaphor for a knife. The poet also used the “great divide” to present death.
- Simile: It is a direct comparison of things or persons, or ideas to clarify the meanings of the thing being compared. The poet has compared the people who die with satisfaction and those who do not.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as fear, heart, death, and the great divide, to show life and how to improve it.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Live Your Life
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of formal, concise, and aphoristic diction.
- Free Verse: It means to use verses without any rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. The poem shows the use of free verses in narrative form.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four passages of the narrative aphorisms that could be termed stanzas.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a didactic, advising, moralistic and optimistic tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote to teach about serving others and dying peacefully.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
