| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: George, looking for a place to sit down. "It's very good for me -
very good for me. Let us take that sofa."
"Do you mean smoking's good for you?"
"No no - her not letting me. It's a great thing to have a wife
who's so sure of all the things one can do without. One might
never find them out one's self. She doesn't allow me to touch a
cigarette." They took possession of a sofa at a distance from the
group of smokers, and St. George went on: "Have you got one
yourself?"
"Do you mean a cigarette?"
"Dear no - a wife."
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: masters of choruses, who are suspended, as if from the stone, at the side
of the rings which hang down from the Muse. And every poet has some Muse
from whom he is suspended, and by whom he is said to be possessed, which is
nearly the same thing; for he is taken hold of. And from these first
rings, which are the poets, depend others, some deriving their inspiration
from Orpheus, others from Musaeus; but the greater number are possessed and
held by Homer. Of whom, Ion, you are one, and are possessed by Homer; and
when any one repeats the words of another poet you go to sleep, and know
not what to say; but when any one recites a strain of Homer you wake up in
a moment, and your soul leaps within you, and you have plenty to say; for
not by art or knowledge about Homer do you say what you say, but by divine
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: the Swine-man. Teeth were his weapons, when it came to fighting.
Montgomery followed with stumbling footsteps, his hands in his pockets,
his face downcast; he was in a state of muddled sullenness
with me on account of the brandy. My left arm was in a sling
(it was lucky it was my left), and I carried my revolver in my right.
Soon we traced a narrow path through the wild luxuriance of
the island, going northwestward; and presently M'ling stopped,
and became rigid with watchfulness. Montgomery almost staggered
into him, and then stopped too. Then, listening intently,
we heard coming through the trees the sound of voices and footsteps
approaching us.
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
