McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XXXIX · Part 5: Lessons XXXVII-XLVIII: Faith, ambition and character

45. Fall of Cardinal Wolsey (William Shakespeare)

Goal: Your student reads Wolsey's famous farewell with feeling and explains its comparison of a man's life to a plant.

⏱ About 35 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, or the scan beside this guide
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

Wolsey's speech on his fall from power and his advice to Cromwell, from Shakespeare's Henry VIII, with notes on Wolsey and Cromwell.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Read the book's notes: Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1471-1530), favorite minister of Henry VIII, who gained great wealth and power and was disgraced and arrested in 1529; and Thomas Cromwell (1490-1540), his servant, who later became Henry's secretary.

    Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: pomp, ambition, blossoms.

  2. Read it aloud

    Read the opening together:

    Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness!

    This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth

    The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms,

    And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;

    Your student reads the whole speech slowly, as a broken man.

  3. Talk about it

    SayFollow the plant comparison: leaves, blossoms, and then what happens?

    SayRead: "Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors!" What has Wolsey learned?

    SayWhat advice does he give Cromwell about ambition?

    SayIs Wolsey truly sorry, or only sorry he fell? What do you think?

  4. Tell it back

    Your student explains Wolsey's thoughts in plain words, in order.

  5. Copywork and memory

    Copy and learn:

    Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:

    By that sin fell the angels;

  6. Write (optional)

    Write a paragraph on Wolsey's words about ambition. Is all ambition bad?

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