| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: prince, that of the influence of woman was, in the France of the
Ancien Regime, the most important. And it was just that which
Fenelon did not, perhaps dared not, try to touch; and which he most
certainly could not have solved. Meanwhile, not only Madame de
Maintenon, but women whose names it were a shame to couple with
hers, must have smiled at, while they hated, the saint who attempted
to dispense not only with them, but with the ideal queen who should
have been the helpmeet of the ideal king.
To those who believe that the world is governed by a living God, it
may seem strange, at first sight, that this moral anarchy was
allowed to endure; that the avenging, and yet most purifying storm
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Children of the Night by Edwin Arlington Robinson: Told of an unforgetful sea,
But iron blows had hushed for aye
The broken flutes of Arcady.
No more by summer breezes fanned,
The place was desolate and gray;
But still my dream was to command
New life into that shrunken clay.
I tried it. Yes, you scan to-day,
With uncommiserating glee,
The songs of one who strove to play
The broken flutes of Arcady.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Juana by Honore de Balzac: "The day, to-morrow, will seem very long to me," she said, receiving
his kisses on her forehead. "But stay in the salon, and speak loud,
that I may hear your voice; it fills my soul."
Montefiore, clever enough to imagine the girl's life, was all the more
satisfied with himself for restraining his desires because he saw that
it would lead to his greater contentment. He returned to his room
without accident.
Ten days went by without any event occurring to trouble the peace and
solitude of the house. Montefiore employed his Italian cajolery on old
Perez, on Dona Lagounia, on the apprentice, even on the cook, and they
all liked him; but, in spite of the confidence he now inspired in
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