| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: should choose to labour on that bare mountain-side. And I saw upon the
foreheads of the men as they worked a light, and the drops which fell from
them as they worked had light.
And I asked God what they were seeking for.
And God touched my eyes, and I saw that what they found were small stones,
which had been too bright for me to see before; and I saw that the light of
the stones and the light on the men's foreheads was the same. And I saw
that when one found a stone he passed it on to his fellow, and he to
another, and he to another. No man kept the stone he found. And at times
they gathered in great company about when a large stone was found, and
raised a great shout so that the sky rang; then they worked on again.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Art of Writing by Robert Louis Stevenson: all literature bald, and all authors (if you like) but one.'
'Well, well,' said Mr. Thomson, 'we shall see.'
Footnotes:
(1) First published in the Contemporary Review, April 1885
(2) Milton.
(3) Milton.
(4) Milton.
(5) As PVF will continue to haunt us through our English
examples, take, by way of comparison, this Latin verse, of
which it forms a chief adornment, and do not hold me
answerable for the all too Roman freedom of the sense: 'Hanc
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: behind that door which faced me as I sat at the head of the table.
It was very much like being mad, only it was worse because one was
aware of it.
I had to shake him for a solid minute, but when at last he opened his eyes
it was in the full possession of his senses, with an inquiring look.
"All's well so far," I whispered. "Now you must vanish into the bathroom."
He did so, as noiseless as a ghost, and then I rang for the steward,
and facing him boldly, directed him to tidy up my stateroom while I was
having my bath--"and be quick about it." As my tone admitted of no excuses,
he said, "Yes, sir," and ran off to fetch his dustpan and brushes.
I took a bath and did most of my dressing, splashing, and whistling
The Secret Sharer |
