| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: take no heed of any other. And you, Ion, when the name of Homer is
mentioned have plenty to say, and have nothing to say of others. You ask,
'Why is this?' The answer is that you praise Homer not by art but by
divine inspiration.
ION: That is good, Socrates; and yet I doubt whether you will ever have
eloquence enough to persuade me that I praise Homer only when I am mad and
possessed; and if you could hear me speak of him I am sure you would never
think this to be the case.
SOCRATES: I should like very much to hear you, but not until you have
answered a question which I have to ask. On what part of Homer do you
speak well?--not surely about every part.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: on the contrary, seemed to have a plan of going away for a week
or ten days, till her head was stronger. He had talked of going
down to Plymouth for a week, and wanted to persuade Captain Benwick
to go with him; but, as Charles maintained to the last, Captain Benwick
seemed much more disposed to ride over to Kellynch.
There can be no doubt that Lady Russell and Anne were both
occasionally thinking of Captain Benwick, from this time.
Lady Russell could not hear the door-bell without feeling that it might
be his herald; nor could Anne return from any stroll of solitary indulgence
in her father's grounds, or any visit of charity in the village,
without wondering whether she might see him or hear of him.
Persuasion |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Moral Emblems by Robert Louis Stevenson: Be sure, before that pirate's old,
He will have made a pot of gold,
And will retire from all his labours
And be respected by his neighbours.
YOU ALSO SCAN YOUR LIFE'S HORIZON
FOR ALL THAT YOU CAN CLAP YOUR EYES ON.
A MARTIAL ELEGY FOR SOME LEAD SOLDIERS
For certain soldiers lately dead
Our reverent dirge shall here be said.
Them, when their martial leader called,
No dread preparative appalled;
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