| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: first acquaintance with my friend yonder," and he nodded towards the
skull that seemed to be grinning down at us in the shadow of the wide
mantelshelf. "I had trekked from dawn till eleven o'clock--a long
trek--but I wanted to get on, and had turned the oxen out to graze,
sending the voorlooper to look after them, my intention being to inspan
again about six o'clock, and trek with the moon till ten. Then I got
into the waggon and had a good sleep till half-past two or so in the
afternoon, when I rose and cooked some meat, and had my dinner, washing
it down with a pannikin of black coffee--for it was difficult to get
preserved milk in those days. Just as I had finished, and the driver, a
man called Tom, was washing up the things, in comes the young scoundrel
Long Odds |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Intentions by Oscar Wilde: of time affects, and who possess not merely the present but the
future, and can rise or fall from a past of glory or of shame.
Movement, that problem of the visible arts, can be truly realised
by Literature alone. It is Literature that shows us the body in
its swiftness and the soul in its unrest.
ERNEST. Yes; I see now what you mean. But, surely, the higher you
place the creative artist, the lower must the critic rank.
GILBERT. Why so?
ERNEST. Because the best that he can give us will be but an echo
of rich music, a dim shadow of clear-outlined form. It may,
indeed, be that life is chaos, as you tell me that it is; that its
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: crash in the hall. Rushing downstairs, they found that a large
suit of old armour had become detached from its stand, and had
fallen on the stone floor, while, seated in a high-backed chair,
was the Canterville ghost, rubbing his knees with an expression of
acute agony on his face. The twins, having brought their pea-
shooters with them, at once discharged two pellets on him, with
that accuracy of aim which can only be attained by long and careful
practice on a writing-master, while the United States Minister
covered him with his revolver, and called upon him, in accordance
with Californian etiquette, to hold up his hands! The ghost
started up with a wild shriek of rage, and swept through them like
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