| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: being recited, but is apt to go to sleep at the recitations of any other
poet. 'And yet, surely, he who knows the superior ought to know the
inferior also;--he who can judge of the good speaker is able to judge of
the bad. And poetry is a whole; and he who judges of poetry by rules of
art ought to be able to judge of all poetry.' This is confirmed by the
analogy of sculpture, painting, flute-playing, and the other arts. The
argument is at last brought home to the mind of Ion, who asks how this
contradiction is to be solved. The solution given by Socrates is as
follows:--
The rhapsode is not guided by rules of art, but is an inspired person who
derives a mysterious power from the poet; and the poet, in like manner, is
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault
at this point, so that beyond the spot where I stood
the strata had slipped down a matter of twenty feet.
The result was that the continuation of my ledge lay twenty
feet below me, where it ended as abruptly as did the end
upon which I stood.
And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable
break in the ledge, stood the object of the creature's
attack--a girl cowering upon the narrow platform,
her face buried in her arms, as though to shut out the
sight of the frightful death which hovered just above her.
At the Earth's Core |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: And cried, "Thou wilt harm our delicate leaves,
And therefore thou canst not stay."
Then a sweet, soft voice, called out from far,
"Come hither, poor worm, to me;
The sun lies warm in this quiet spot,
And I'11 share my home with thee."
The wondering flowers looked up to see
Who had offered the worm a home:
'T was a clover-blossom, whose fluttering leaves
Seemed beckoning him to come;
It dwelt in a sunny little nook,
Flower Fables |
