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

48. The Present (Adelaide Anne Procter)

Goal: Your student reads a short poem and explains its advice about past and present.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 7 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

A poem urging the reader not to worship the dead Past, but to serve the living Present. An author note comes first.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

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

  2. About the author

    The book says Adelaide Anne Procter (1825-1864) was the daughter of Bryan Waller Procter ("Barry Cornwall"). She wrote several volumes of poetry and wrote for London magazines such as Good Words and All the Year Round.

  3. Read it aloud

    Read the opening together:

    Do not crouch to-day, and worship

    The dead Past, whose life is fled:

    Your student reads the whole poem. It ends:

    Bids us cast our lives before her,

    Bids us serve the great To-day.

  4. Talk about it

    SayThe Past and the Present are spoken of as kings. Which is dead, and which reigns?

    SayWhat does the poet want us to do with what the Past has left us?

    SayIs it wrong to love the past? What is the difference between honoring and worshiping it?

    SayWhat does "serve the great To-day" mean in your life this week?

  5. Tell it back

    Your student explains the poem's advice in their own words.

  6. Copywork and memory

    Copy and learn:

    For the Present reigns, our monarch,

    With an added weight of hours;

  7. Write (optional)

    Write a paragraph: one thing from the past worth keeping, and one thing to do today.

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