Life by Sir Walter Raleigh

What is our life? A play of passion,
Our mirth the music of division,
Our mother's wombs the tiring-houses be,
Where we are dressed for this short comedy.
Heaven the judicious sharp spectator is,
That sits and marks still who doth act amiss.
Our graves that hide us from the setting sun
Are like drawn curtains when the play is done.
Thus march we, playing, to our latest rest,
Only we die in earnest, that's no jest.

Right away Raleigh asks a really tough question, "What is our life?" That is what really drew me to this poem, it made me think, like a lot. Then he calls it a play of passion, Raleigh is basically calling life a series of actions based on impulse. The line "our mirth the music of division" is confusing to me. It might mean that our happiness powers our lives or something, I really do not know. The next two lines after are just saying that our mother's wombs are like rooms where we prepare for life. He also calls life a "short comedy," meaning life is short and enjoyable, most of the time. The following two lines talk about God, basically. He talks about how God is always watching us and judging us on our actions, especially when we mess up. The rest of the poem is no longer about living but about death. He compares our graves to curtains on a stage that close when we die. The last lines are talking about no matter how we live we all die. I liked this poem, mostly because it is very deep, life and death are pretty serious topics and Raleigh handles them really well.