| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: constituted that the least unnecessary indulgence would result in some
derangement of function.
The work daily performed by these female laborers comprises road-making,
bridge-building, timber-cutting, architectural construction of numberless
kinds, horticulture and agriculture, the feeding and sheltering of a
hundred varieties of domestic animals, the manufacture of sundry chemical
products, the storage and conservation of countless food-stuffs, and the
care of the children of the race. All this labor is done for the
commonwealth -- no citizen of which is capable even of thinking about
"property," except as a res publica;-- and the sole object of the
commonwealth is the nurture and training of its young,-- nearly all of whom
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: so indulged by the kindest of fathers, so blessed by meeting, on
my entrance into life, with the love of an Anna! The flowers of
life are all I have ever known. Such happiness could not last.
Nevertheless, my dear Annette, I feel more courage than a careless
young man is supposed to feel,--above all a young man used to the
caressing ways of the dearest woman in all Paris, cradled in
family joys, on whom all things smiled in his home, whose wishes
were a law to his father--oh, my father! Annette, he is dead!
Well, I have thought over my position, and yours as well. I have
grown old in twenty-four hours. Dear Anna, if in order to keep me
with you in Paris you were to sacrifice your luxury, your dress,
Eugenie Grandet |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: In the mystery of my passion!"
Then two figures, man and woman,
Standing hand in hand together
With their hands so clasped together
That they seemed in one united,
And the words thus represented
Are, "I see your heart within you,
And your cheeks are red with blushes!"
Next the maiden on an island,
In the centre of an Island;
And the song this shape suggested
|
