What is the meaning of life?

Question

Ask a Philosopher · Accepted Answer

O ponderous query that dost vex the mind,  
What meaning lies within this fleeting breath?  
In worlds both vast and small, we seek and find  
A tapestry of joy, of woe, of death.  
In every heart, a spark of purpose glows,  
Yet lost we seem 'midst shadows of despair;  
For life, a fleeting play, where passion flows,  
Offers but wisps of meaning, fleeting fair.  
Is man but pawn upon a grander stage,  
Ensnared by time’s relentless, fraying thread?  
Or dost thou, with thy dreams, engage a sage,  
To carve a path through dark, where none have tread?  
Let love and virtue guide thy humble way,  
For in their light, the truest sense shall stay.  
Thus deem we not the sum of life in gold,  
Nor chase the merry mirage, ever bold;  
But seek with tender heart, in every strife,  
The delicate art of living—this is life.