| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Confessio Amantis by John Gower: Sche seide, "Helpeth at this nede,
And as ye maden me to spede,
Whan Jason cam the Flees to seche,
So help me nou, I you beseche."
With that sche loketh and was war,
Doun fro the Sky ther cam a char,
The which Dragouns aboute drowe:
And tho sche gan hir hed doun bowe, 3990
And up sche styh, and faire and wel
Sche drof forth bothe char and whel
Above in thair among the Skyes.
Confessio Amantis |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: What he lived by was the breath of ambition; he dreamed of revenge
while blaming himself for yielding to so shallow a feeling. The true
statesman ought, above all things, to be superior to vulgar passions;
like the man of science. It was in these days of dire necessity that
Marcas seemed to us so great--nay, so terrible; there was something
awful in the gaze which saw another world than that which strikes the
eye of ordinary men. To us he was a subject of contemplation and
astonishment; for the young--which of us has not known it?--the young
have a keen craving to admire; they love to attach themselves, and are
naturally inclined to submit to the men they feel to be superior, as
they are to devote themselves to a great cause.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: little wooden figures invented by Pyrrhus for the representation of
manoeuvres. Spendius would demonstrate Hamilcar's resources, and with
oaths by all the gods entreat that the opportunity should not be
wasted. Matho would walk about angry and gesticulating. The war
against Carthage was his own personal affair; he was indignant that
the others should interfere in it without being willing to obey him.
Autaritus would divine his speech from his countenance and applaud.
Narr' Havas would elevate his chin to mark his disdain; there was not
a measure he did not consider fatal; and he had ceased to smile. Sighs
would escape him as though he were thrusting back sorrow for an
impossible dream, despair for an abortive enterprise.
Salammbo |
