| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: I do not think that they will sing to me.
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
Portrait of a Lady
Thou hast committed--
Fornication: but that was in another country,
And besides, the wench is dead.
Prufrock/Other Observations |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: defence. Frequently, I was told to amuse Miss Matilda with other
things, and to remind her of her mother's precepts and
prohibitions. I did so to the best of my power: but she would not
be amused against her will, and could not against her taste; and
though I went beyond mere reminding, such gentle remonstrances as I
could use were utterly ineffectual.
'DEAR Miss Grey! it is the STRANGEST thing. I suppose you can't
help it, if it's not in your nature - but I WONDER you can't win
the confidence of that girl, and make your society at LEAST as
agreeable to her as that of Robert or Joseph!'
'They can talk the best about the things in which she is most
Agnes Grey |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: Swims round and round his tank to find an outlet,
Pressing his nose against the glass that holds him,
Nor ever sees the prison that enfolds him;
So the poor debtor, seeing naught around him,
Yet feels the narrow limits that impound him,
Grieves at his debt and studies to evade it,
And finds at last he might as well have paid it.
Barlow S. Vode
DECALOGUE, n. A series of commandments, ten in number -- just enough
to permit an intelligent selection for observance, but not enough to
embarrass the choice. Following is the revised edition of the
The Devil's Dictionary |
