Read the following lines and answer the question that are given:

Act, --act in the living present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

i) How should one act in the present?

ii) Do you think there is a sense of urgency in the above lines? Why?

i) One must act with alertness, urgency and conviction in the present. One must forget the past, seemingly bury it like the dead, and stop pondering over it day in and day out. One must also not behave too dreamily when it comes to the future, no matter how pleasant it seems from afar. One must think only about the present and act accordingly. This he must do by listening to two voices – the heart within him, and the god looking at him from the heavens above. This means, he should be righteous and fair in what he does in the present, and must do it with belief.

ii) There seems to be a sense of urgency in the above lines. Perhaps, the poet has tried to assert the urgency because he wants the reader to realize that the present is only a short bracket of time, if one stops associating it with the past or the future. There is no time for regret, neither for procrastination. The present will pass away even before our realizing it, with every second to be precise. This is why the poet is urging the reader to be quick, alert and treat the present with urgency. Only then will he act accordingly.