| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: was partly human, beyond a doubt, with very manlike hands and
head, and the goatish, chinless face had the stamp of the Whateley's
upon it. But the torso and lower parts of the body were teratologically
fabulous, so that only generous clothing could ever have enabled
it to walk on earth unchallenged or uneradicated.
Above the
waist it was semi-anthropomorphic; though its chest, where the
dog's rending paws still rested watchfully, had the leathery,
reticulated hide of a crocodile or alligator. The back was piebald
with yellow and black, and dimly suggested the squamous covering
of certain snakes. Below the waist, though, it was the worst;
The Dunwich Horror |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: There shall be seen the Spaniard's luxury,
The delicate living there of the Bohemian,
Who still to worth has been a willing stranger.
The halter of Jerusalem shall see
A unit for his virtue, for his vices
No less a mark than million. He, who guards
The isle of fire by old Anchises honour'd
Shall find his avarice there and cowardice;
And better to denote his littleness,
The writing must be letters maim'd, that speak
Much in a narrow space. All there shall know
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: the life of the moth, and of the worm, because you are to companion
them in the dust? Not so; we may have but a few thousands of days
to spend, perhaps hundreds only--perhaps tens; nay, the longest of
our time and best, looked back on, will be but as a moment, as the
twinkling of an eye; still we are men, not insects; we are living
spirits, not passing clouds. "He maketh the winds His messengers;
the momentary fire, His minister;" and shall we do less than THESE?
Let us do the work of men while we bear the form of them; and, as we
snatch our narrow portion of time out of Eternity, snatch also our
narrow inheritance of passion out of Immortality--even though our
lives BE as a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then
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