| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: was driven from the throne, and Edward recalled to succeed him.
The parliament always following the strongest side.
This contest began in the reign of Henry the Sixth, and was not entirely
extinguished till Henry the Seventh, in whom the families were united.
Including a period of 67 years, viz. from 1422 to 1489.
In short, monarchy and succession have laid (not this or that kingdom only)
but the world in blood and ashes. Tis a form of government which the word
of God bears testimony against, and blood will attend it.
If we inquire into the business of a king, we shall find that in some
countries they have none; and after sauntering away their lives
without pleasure to themselves or advantage to the nation,
Common Sense |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: and does not occupy more than two scenes of The Ring. Tristan and
Isolde, wholly devoted to it, is a poem of destruction and death.
The Mastersingers, a work full of health, fun and happiness,
contains not a single bar of love music that can be described as
passionate: the hero of it is a widower who cobbles shoes, writes
verses, and contents himself with looking on at the
sweetheartings of his customers. Parsifal makes an end of it
altogether. The truth is that the love panacea in Night Falls On
The Gods and in the last act of Siegfried is a survival of the
first crude operatic conception of the story, modified by an
anticipation of Wagner's later, though not latest, conception of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: while deep within his mind he was reviewing the gradual but
marvellous change that had been wrought upon him by the search to
which he had devoted himself. He remembered how the night dew had
fallen upon him,--how the dark forest had whispered to him,--how
the stars had gleamed upon him,--a simple and loving man,
watching his fire in the years gone by, and ever musing as it
burned. He remembered with what tenderness, with what love and
sympathy for mankind and what pity for human guilt and woe, he
had first begun to contemplate those ideas which afterwards
became the inspiration of his life; with what reverence he had
then looked into the heart of man, viewing it as a temple
The Snow Image |
