| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: shame? When the ancient chivalry of France descended to that level,
or rather delegated their functions to mercenaries of that level--
when the knightly hosts who fought before Jerusalem allowed
themselves to be superseded by the dragoons and dragonnades of Louis
XIV.--then the end of the French chivalry was at hand, and came.
But centuries before that shameful fall there had come in with
Christianity the new thought, that domination meant responsibility;
that responsibility demanded virtue. The words which denoted rank,
came to denote likewise high moral excellencies. The nobilis, or
man who was known, and therefore subject to public opinion, was
bound to behave nobly. The gentleman--gentile-man--who respected
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Rig Veda: toil for
us, glittering with moisture.
Lauded by thee, these Maruts, Sons o Rudra, O Rsi, have sent
down the
heavenly treasure.
HYMN LX. Maruts.
1. I LAUD with reverence the gracious Agni: here may he sit
and part
The Rig Veda |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: a new school at the town-end--a new crucifix by the wayside. How
sad to see the old folk well clothed in the fabrics of England or
Belgium, doing an easy trade in milk and fruit, because the land
they till has become their own, and not the prince's; while their
sons are thriving farmers on the prairies of the far West. Very
unpicturesque, no doubt, is wealth and progress, peace and safety,
cleanliness and comfort. But they possess advantages unknown to the
Ancien Regime, which was, if nothing else, picturesque. Men could
paint amusing and often pretty pictures of its people and its
places.
Consider that word, "picturesque." It, and the notion of art which
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