| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Professor by Charlotte Bronte: of Oreb or Sinai" had taught the Hebrew shepherd how in the womb
of chaos, the conception of a world had originated and ripened, I
enjoyed, undisturbed, the treble pleasure of having her near me,
hearing the sound of her voice--a sound sweet and satisfying in
my ear--and looking, by intervals, at her face: of this last
privilege, I chiefly availed myself when I found fault with an
intonation, a pause, or an emphasis; as long as I dogmatized, I
might also gaze, without exciting too warm a flush.
"Enough," said I, when she had gone through some half dozen pages
(a work of time with her, for she read slowly and paused often to
ask and receive information)--"enough; and now the rain is
The Professor |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Vailima Prayers & Sabbath Morn by Robert Louis Stevenson: Vailima lay up some three miles of continual rise from Apia, and
more than half that distance from the nearest village. It was a
long way for a tired man to walk down every evening with the sole
purpose of joining in family worship; and the road through the bush
was dark, and, to the Samoan imagination, beset with supernatural
terrors. Wherefore, as soon as our household had fallen into a
regular routine, and the bonds of Samoan family life began to draw
us more closely together, Tusitala felt the necessity of including
our retainers in our evening devotions. I suppose ours was the
only white man's family in all Samoa, except those of the
missionaries, where the day naturally ended with this homely,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: this great human movement which created an architecture, a music, a
poetry of its own, a costume and manners. As you listen, you are
walking under the arcades of the Generalife, the carved vaults of the
Alhambra. The runs and trills depict that delicate mauresque
decoration, and the gallant and valorous religion which was destined
to wage war against the gallant and valorous chivalry of Christendom.
A few brass instruments awake in the orchestra, announcing the
Prophet's first triumph (in a broken /cadenza/). The Arabs adore the
Prophet (E flat major), and the Khaled, Amru, and Ali arrive (/tempo
di marcia/). The armies of the faithful have taken many towns and
subjugated the three Arabias. Such a grand recitative!--Mahomet
Gambara |
