| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Vailima Prayers & Sabbath Morn by Robert Louis Stevenson: that day by day we shall come before Thee with this song of
gratitude, and in the end we be dismissed with honour. In their
weakness and their fear, the vessels of thy handiwork so pray to
Thee, so praise Thee. Amen.
SUNDAY
WE beseech Thee, Lord, to behold us with favour, folk of many
families and nations gathered together in the peace of this roof,
weak men and women subsisting under the covert of thy patience. Be
patient still; suffer us yet awhile longer; - with our broken
purposes of good, with our idle endeavours against evil, suffer us
awhile longer to endure, and (if it may be) help us to do better.
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: the road. Gudin advanced to an apple-tree which happened to be in the
middle of the field. Hearing the rustle of this movement through the
gorse, seven or eight men, at the head of whom was Beau-Pied, hastily
hid behind some chestnut-trees which topped the bank of this
particular field. Gudin's men did not see them, in spite of the white
reflections of the hoar-frost and their own practised sight.
"Hush! here they are," said Beau-Pied, cautiously putting out his
head. "The brigands have more men than we, but we have 'em at the
muzzles of our guns, and we mustn't miss them, or, by the Lord, we are
not fit to be soldiers of the pope."
By this time Gudin's keen eyes had discovered a few muzzles pointing
The Chouans |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: light violent and vibrating, like a triumphal flourish of brazen
trumpets. He looked at the man's brown shoulders, at the red
sarong round his waist; at the tall, slender, dazzling white
figure he supported. He looked at the white dress, at the
falling masses of the long black hair. He looked at them
embarking, and at the canoe growing smaller in the distance, with
rage, despair, and regret in his heart, and on his face a peace
as that of a carved image of oblivion. Inwardly he felt himself
torn to pieces, but Ali--who now aroused--stood close to his
master, saw on his features the blank expression of those who
live in that hopeless calm which sightless eyes only can give.
Almayer's Folly |
