| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: of invitation.
Nevertheless Hamilcar's daughter had no tenderness for Narr' Havas.
The recollection of Matho disturbed her in an intolerable manner; it
seemed to her that the death of this man would unburden her thoughts,
just as people to cure themselves of the bite of a viper crush it upon
the wound. The king of the Numidians was depending upon her; he
awaited the wedding with impatience, and, as it was to follow the
victory, Salammbo made him this present to stimulate his courage. Then
his distress vanished, and he thought only of the happiness of
possessing so beautiful a woman.
The same vision had assailed Matho; but he cast it from him
Salammbo |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Margret Howth: A Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis: stone walls with evergreens, and wreaths of glowing fire-berries:
the child's angel had touched them too, perhaps,--not unwisely.
He passed crowds of thin-clad women looking in through open
doors, with red cheeks and hungry eyes, at red-hot stoves within,
and a placard, "Christmas dinners for the poor, gratis;" out of
every window on the streets came a ruddy light, and a spicy
smell; the very sunset sky had caught the reflection of the
countless Christmas fires, and flamed up to the zenith, blood-red
as cinnabar.
Holmes turned down one of the back streets: he was going to see
Lois, first of all. I hardly know why: the child's angel may
Margret Howth: A Story of To-day |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes: very sad thing in old friendships, to every mind that is really
moving onward. It is this: that one cannot help using his early
friends as the seaman uses the log, to mark his progress. Every
now and then we throw an old schoolmate over the stern with a
string of thought tied to him, and look - I am afraid with a kind
of luxurious and sanctimonious compassion - to see the rate at
which the string reels off, while he lies there bobbing up and
down, poor fellow! and we are dashing along with the white foam and
bright sparkle at our bows; - the ruffled bosom of prosperity and
progress, with a sprig of diamonds stuck in it! But this is only
the sentimental side of the matter; for grow we must, if we outgrow
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
