| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: to produce a baroque effect without troubling himself about musical
truth or unity, or about the capabilities of human voices which are
swamped by this flood of instrumental noise."
"Silence, my friend!" cried Gambara. "I am still under the spell of
that glorious chorus of hell, made still more terrible by the long
trumpets,--a new method of instrumentation. The broken /cadenzas/
which give such force to Robert's scene, the /cavatina/ in the fourth
act, the /finale/ of the first, all hold me in the grip of a
supernatural power. No, not even Gluck's declamation ever produced so
prodigious an effect, and I am amazed by such skill and learning."
"Signor Maestro," said Andrea, smiling, "allow me to contradict you.
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had
filled them with respect for her, or contempt. Only one of them
spoke immediately.
"She will have to be fattened more," he said.
The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her
captor. "Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me?" she
cried.
"That is for Luud to say," he replied, and then he leaned closer
so that his mouth was near her ear. "That noise you made which
you called song pleased me," he whispered, "and I will repay you
by warning you not to antagonize these kaldanes. They are very
The Chessmen of Mars |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: [4] "They have no aspiration even to be free," "they are content to
wallow in the slough of despond." The {adikoi} (unjust) correspond
to the {dikaioi} (just), {akrateis} (incontinent) to the {sophoi}
(wise) (Breit. cf. "Mem." III. ix. 4, {sophian de kai sophrosunen
ou diorizen}), {andrapododeis} (servile) to the {kasmioi},
{andreioi} (orderly, courageous).
This, then, I say, appears to me a sore affliction, that we should
look upon the one set as good men, and yet be forced to lean upon the
other.
And further, even a tyrant cannot but be something of a patriot--a
lover of that state, without which he can neither hope for safety nor
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