Theme of "Psalm of Life"

The lines "Act, act in the living Present !

Heart within, and God o'erhead !" lucidly express the main theme of the poem.
Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life" belongs to the genre of poetry called 'Carpe
Diem' poems. The Latin term coined by Horace in one of his odes means,
"Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow."
Longfellow makes an earnest appeal to his readers not to worry about the past
or fantasize about the future but to take maximum advantage of the present to
achieve something valuabe and worthwhile:
"Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act, act in the living Present!"

"Song of Myself"
Poem Summary
'Song of Myself' is not a poem with a clear plotline or single point to make.
Although Whitman has some distinct themes that come up over and over again,
he's juggling so many ideas, characters, images, and symbols all at once that
reading this poem is like holding on to a runaway horse. You just have to let it
take you where it will. (That's part of what makes it so appealing to so many
different types of people--you can keep going back to it again and again and
finding something new.)
Sometimes Whitman feels like he's preaching, and some of the sections contain
direct explanations of his philosophy. For example, one of Whitman's favorite
ideas is that we're all equal, and he tells us so in lines like, 'Every atom
belonging to me as good belongs to you.' He's also obsessed with how good life
is. In lines like, 'Has anyone supposed it lucky to be born?/I hasten to tell him or
her it is just as lucky to die,' he's trying to teach the reader that everything is
okay. Even the nasty parts of existence are all part of a great, intelligent pattern.
Other times Whitman backs away from the teacherly voice to tell us a story or
set a scene. In the famous Section 11, Whitman takes on the persona of a young
woman watching 28 beautiful young men bathe in a river. Whitman's ability to
jump in and out of other people's points of view is part of the poem's overall
commitment to democracy and equality. 'I can appreciate anybody,' Whitman
seems to be saying, 'because at the heart of it, we're all alike.' Whitman is
particularly interested in telling stories about 'regular people,' and he often
portrays slaves, workmen, the poverty-stricken, and even prostitutes. He wants
us to know that no matter what our life situation, no one is inherently better or
worse than anyone else.
On the most basic level, we can think of 'Song of Myself' as an invitation from
Walt Whitman, the poet from Long Island, to jump inside his mind and take a
look at the world through his eyes. As we do that, we discover with Walt just
how expansive and complicated--and wonderful--it is to be a human being in
mid-19th century America.