| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Message by Honore de Balzac: fault, in part owing to historical veracity. Plenty of things in
real life are superlatively uninteresting; so that it is one-half
of art to select from realities those which contain possibilities
of poetry.
In 1819 I was traveling from Paris to Moulins. The state of my
finances obliged me to take an outside place. Englishmen, as you
know, regard those airy perches on the top of the coach as the
best seats; and for the first few miles I discovered abundance of
excellent reasons for justifying the opinion of our neighbors. A
young fellow, apparently in somewhat better circumstances, who
came to take the seat beside me from preference, listened to my
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: not mere breath that this preacher uttered; they were the words
of life, because a life of good deeds and holy love was melted
into them. Pearls, pure and rich, had been dissolved into this
precious draught. The poet, as he listened, felt that the being
and character of Ernest were a nobler strain of poetry than he
had ever written. His eyes glistening with tears, he gazed
reverentially at the venerable man, and said within himself that
never was there an aspect so worthy of a prophet and a sage as
that mild, sweet, thoughtful countenance, with the glory of white
hair diffused about it. At a distance, but distinctly to be seen,
high up in the golden light of the setting sun, appeared the
The Snow Image |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: she was saying; "that's impossible."
"What is it?" called Zoie across the foot of the bed, unable
longer to endure the suspense.
Aggie did not answer. She was growing more and more excited. "A
thief!" she cried wildly, over the 'phone. "How dare you call my
husband a thief!"
Jimmy was following the conversation with growing interest.
"Wait a minute," said Aggie, then she left the receiver hanging
by the cord and turned to the expectant pair behind her. "It's
the Children's Home," she explained. "That awful woman says
Jimmy STOLE her baby!"
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