| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: >From the character given of him by contemporary writers his
temper was well formed to assimilate with that of our poet. "He
was," according to G. Villani, l. viii. c. 41. "of a
philosophical and elegant mind, if he had not been too delicate
and fastidious." And Dino Compagni terms him "a young and noble
knight, brave and courteous, but of a lofty scornful spirit, much
addicted to solitude and study." Muratori. Rer. Ital. Script t. 9
l. 1. p. 481. He died, either in exile at Serrazana, or soon
after his return to Florence, December 1300, during the spring of
which year the action of this poem is supposed to be passing.
v. 62. Guido thy son
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: summer Sunday afternoon that I wouldn't have been surprised to see a great
flock of white sheep turn the corner.
"Hold on," I said, "I have to leave you here."
"No, you don't," interposed Tom quickly.
"Myrtle'll be hurt if you don't come up to the apartment. Won't you,
Myrtle?"
"Come on," she urged. "I'll telephone my sister Catherine. She's said to
be very beautiful by people who ought to know."
"Well, I'd like to, but----"
We went on, cutting back again over the Park toward the West Hundreds.
At 158th Street the cab stopped at one slice in a long white cake of
The Great Gatsby |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Phantasmagoria and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll: Receives a buffet in the face
That lands him on his back:
And feels himself, like one in sleep,
Glide swiftly down again,
A helpless weight, from steep to steep,
Till, with a headlong giddy sweep,
He drops upon the plain -
So I, that had resolved to bring
Conviction to a ghost,
And found it quite a different thing
From any human arguing,
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