what is the meaning of life

Question

Ask a Philosopher · Accepted Answer

Oh, gentle muse, attend mine earnest quest,  
To ponder what this life doth truly mean,  
In fleeting moments wrapped in time's cruel jest,  
Where mortals tread 'neath shadows long and lean.  
Is life but vapors dancing on the wind,  
A specter’s whisper, fleeting as a sigh?  
Or doth it weave a tapestry akin—  
To stars that wink and fade across the sky?  
Behold the heart, with passions fierce and bold,  
Yet bound by chains of love and tempests riled;  
What wisdom lies in ages long foretold,  
That none, though learned, hath ever reconciled?  
Mayhap it lies in love’s embrace secure,  
Or in the fleeting joy that youth decries,  
As seasons change and surely we endure,  
Awake to sorrow, yet to hope we rise.  
The meaning, dear, perhaps is found in strife,  
In striving not for wealth, but wisdom's light;  
For life’s mere purpose, in its ebb and flow,  
Echoes in questions deep, that grace us so.  
Thus, let us dwell in knowledge and its quest,  
For in the search, our souls may find their rest.