Past and Present
"Linger," I cried, "oh radiant Time! thy powerHas nothing more to give; life is complete:Let but the perfect Present, hour by hour,Itself remember and itself repeat.
"And Love,--the future can but mar its splendour,Change can but dim the glory of its youth;Time has no star more faithful or more tender,To crown its constancy or light its truth."
But Time passed on in spite of prayer or pleading,Through storm and peril; but that life might gainA Peace through strife all other peace exceeding,Fresh joy from sorrow, and new hope from pain.
And since Love lived when all save Love was dying,And, passed through fire, grew stronger than before:-Dear, you know why, in double faith relying,I prize the Past much, but the Present more.
Words in this poem
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Past and Present is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Past and Present, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/past-and-present.html, id L21813.
Form and metre
Past and Present is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB powerA · completeB · hourA · repeatB
- 2 ABAB splendourA · youthB · tenderA · truthB
- 3 ABAB pleadingA · gainB · exceedingA · painB
- 4 ABAB dyingA · beforeB · relyingA · moreB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Linger," I cried, "oh radiant Time! thy power | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| Has nothing more to give; life is complete: | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Let but the perfect Present, hour by hour, | 11 | ···/·/˘/·/˘ |
| Itself remember and itself repeat. | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| "And Love,--the future can but mar its splendour, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Change can but dim the glory of its youth; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Time has no star more faithful or more tender, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| To crown its constancy or light its truth." | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| But Time passed on in spite of prayer or pleading, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Through storm and peril; but that life might gain | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A Peace through strife all other peace exceeding, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Fresh joy from sorrow, and new hope from pain. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And since Love lived when all save Love was dying, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And, passed through fire, grew stronger than before:- | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Dear, you know why, in double faith relying, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| I prize the Past much, but the Present more. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.