| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Heap O' Livin' by Edgar A. Guest: That's brighter than its brothers,
And when of Michigan I brag,
I'm boasting of the others.
Just which is which no man can say --
One star for every state
Gleams brightly on our flag to-day,
And every one is great.
The stars that gem the skies at night
May differ in degree,
And some are pale and some are bright,
But in our flag we see
A Heap O' Livin' |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: did hear a vague rustling afar off. As this thoughtfully approached,
he became more and more uncomfortable; for he did not wish to
move away from the spot where the ladder would come. Finally the
tension grew almost unbearable, and he was about to flee in panic
when the thud of something on the newly heaped bones nearby drew
his notice from the other sound. It was the ladder, and after
a minute of groping he had it taut in his hands. But the other
sound did not cease, and followed him even as he climbed. He had
gone fully five feet from the ground when the rattling beneath
waxed emphatic, and was a good ten feet up when something swayed
the ladder from below. At a height which must have been fifteen
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: imagining, perhaps, in its red embers new scenes of persecution
yet to be encountered. The snow still drifted hard against the
windows, and sometimes, as the blaze of the logs had gradually
sunk, came down the spacious chimney and hissed upon the hearth.
A cautious footstep might now and then be heard in a neighboring
apartment, and the sound invariably drew the eyes of both Quakers
to the door which led thither. When a fierce and riotous gust of
wind had led his thoughts, by a natural association, to homeless
travellers on such a night, Pearson resumed the conversation.
"I have well-nigh sunk under my own share of this trial,"
observed he, sighing heavily; "yet I would that it might be
Twice Told Tales |
