| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: them the sharers of her coming joy. Every movement, every thought
brings that joy within her grasp. But presently she expects no longer,
she hopes no more, she questions silence; the slightest sound is to
her an omen; doubt hooks its claws once more into her heart; she
burns, she trembles, she is grasped by a thought which holds her like
a physical force; she alternates from triumph to agony, and without
the hope of coming happiness she could not endure the torture. A score
of times did Mademoiselle de Verneuil raise the window-curtain, hoping
to see the smoke rising above the rocks; but the fog only took a
grayer tone, which her excited imagination turned into a warning. At
last she let fall the curtain, impatiently resolving not to raise it
The Chouans |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: She was sure that he had not been happy in marriage. Colonel Wallis
said it, and Lady Russell saw it; but it had been no unhappiness
to sour his mind, nor (she began pretty soon to suspect) to prevent his
thinking of a second choice. Her satisfaction in Mr Elliot
outweighed all the plague of Mrs Clay.
It was now some years since Anne had begun to learn that she
and her excellent friend could sometimes think differently;
and it did not surprise her, therefore, that Lady Russell
should see nothing suspicious or inconsistent, nothing to require
more motives than appeared, in Mr Elliot's great desire of a reconciliation.
In Lady Russell's view, it was perfectly natural that Mr Elliot,
Persuasion |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Helen of Troy And Other Poems by Sara Teasdale: Down the splashy, gleaming street,
And the rain is heard now loud now blurred
By the tread of homing feet.
By the Sea
Beside an ebbing northern sea
While stars awaken one by one,
We walk together, I and he.
He woos me with an easy grace
That proves him only half sincere;
A light smile flickers on his face.
To him love-making is an art,
|
