| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: the unfailing brilliance of her femininity. He did not know what
there was under that ivory forehead so splendidly shaped, so
gloriously crowned. He could not tell what were her thoughts, her
feelings. Her replies were reflective, always preceded by a short
silence, while he hung on her lips anxiously. He felt himself in
the presence of a mysterious being in whom spoke an unknown voice,
like the voice of oracles, bringing everlasting unrest to the
heart.
He was thankful enough to sit in silence with secretly clenched
teeth, devoured by jealousy - and nobody could have guessed that
his quiet deferential bearing to all these grey-heads was the
Within the Tides |
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: Fantastic and unheard-of, and as false
And out of tune as ever to our own
Did ring the prayers of man-made maniacs;
But if that word be the plain word of Truth,
It leaves an echo that begets itself,
Persistent in itself and of itself,
Regenerate, reiterate, replete.
IV
Tumultuously void of a clean scheme
Whereon to build, whereof to formulate,
The legion life that riots in mankind
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from One Basket by Edna Ferber: original intention to dine in state in the rose-and-gold dining
room of her hotel. She had even thought daringly of lobster.
But at the last moment she recoiled from the idea of dining alone
in that wilderness of tables so obviously meant for two.
After her supper she went to a picture show. She was amazed to
find there, instead of the accustomed orchestra, a pipe organ
that panted and throbbed and rumbled over lugubrious classics.
The picture was about a faithless wife. Terry left in the middle
of it.
She awoke next morning at seven, as usual, started up wildly,
looked around, and dropped back. Nothing to get up for. The
One Basket |
