| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: an ambition to be the best in the art, that must do it. I will tell you,
scholar, I once heard one say, " I envy not him that eats better meat than
I do; nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do: I envy
nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fish than I do ". And
such a man is like to prove an angler; and this noble emulation I wish to
you, and all young anglers.
The FIFTH day-continued
Of the Minnow, or Penk; Loach, Bull-Head, or Miller's- Thumb: and the
Stickle-bag
Chapter XVIII
Piscator and Venator
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: its formidable ally, held to obedience by the frailest bonds, like
a fierce ghost captured in a snare of something even finer than
spun silk. For what is the array of the strongest ropes, the
tallest spars and the stoutest canvas against the mighty breath of
the infinite, but thistle stalks, cobwebs and gossamer?
XI.
Indeed, it is less than nothing, and I have seen, when the great
soul of the world turned over with a heavy sigh, a perfectly new,
extra-stout foresail vanish like a bit of some airy stuff much
lighter than gossamer. Then was the time for the tall spars to
stand fast in the great uproar. The machinery must do its work
The Mirror of the Sea |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: He said no more, because his head received a terrific concussion,
accompanied by an explosive sound. Freya had swung her round,
strong arm with such force that the impact of her open palm on his
flat cheek turned him half round. Uttering a faint, hoarse yell,
the lieutenant clapped both his hands to the left side of his face,
which had taken on suddenly a dusky brick-red tinge. Freya, very
erect, her violet eyes darkened, her palm still tingling from the
blow, a sort of restrained determined smile showing a tiny gleam of
her white teeth, heard her father's rapid, heavy tread on the path
below the verandah. Her expression lost its pugnacity and became
sincerely concerned. She was sorry for her father. She stooped
'Twixt Land & Sea |
