| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: him foothold; and how, when he had reached the bars, he fastened
his ladder. Milady knew the rest.
On her side, Milady tried to encourage Felton in his project; but
at the first words which issued from her mouth, she plainly saw
that the young fanatic stood more in need of being moderated than
urged.
It was agreed that Milady should wait for Felton till ten
o'clock; if he did not return by ten o'clock she was to sail.
In that case, and supposing he was at liberty, he was to rejoin
her in France, at the convent of the Carmelites at Bethune.
59 WHAT TOOK PLACE AT PORTSMOUTH AUGUST 23, 1628
The Three Musketeers |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: fullness -- of congestion. These sensations were
unaccompanied by thought. The intellectual part of his
nature was already effaced; he had power only to feel, and
feeling was torment. He was conscious of motion.
Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely
the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung
through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast
pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the
light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash;
a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and
dark. The power of thought was restored; he knew that the
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: Through attenuated tones of violins
Mingled with remote cornets
And begins.
"You do not know how much they mean to me, my friends,
And how, how rare and strange it is, to find
In a life composed so much, so much of odds and ends,
(For indeed I do not love it ... you knew? you are not blind!
How keen you are!)
To find a friend who has these qualities,
Who has, and gives
Those qualities upon which friendship lives.
Prufrock/Other Observations |
