What does the speaker compare life to in the first stanza of james russell lowell's "life"?

In the first stanza of James Russel Lowell's poem 'Life', the speaker compares life to a leaf of white paper where each one of us may write. What the author was trying to say is that each living person has the same opportunity at birth, that is, we all have life, what we choose to do with our lives is the information that we put on the white paper.

First, Odysseus decides to go to war with the Greeks even though he does not want to leave his wife and son. Being the good leader he is, he puts aside his personal desires and unselfishly gives himself to warfare for his country. During war with Troy, he is brilliant in warfare. He comes up with the idea of the Trojan Horse. When the Trojans open their gates and bring in the Trojan Horse, Odysseus and the Greeks get inside the city of Troy. Odysseus leads his men to victory.