| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Three Taverns by Edwin Arlington Robinson: Or, more than all, Melchizedek.
Assured that he was none of these,
I gave them back their names again,
To scan once more those endless eyes
Where all my questions ended then.
I found in them what they revealed
That I shall not live to forget,
And wondered if they found in mine
Compassion that I might regret.
Pity, I learned, was not the least
Of time's offending benefits
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: descent seemed to bring no coolness; the leaden height of the dead
air pressed upon his brow and heart, but the goal was near. He saw
the cataract of the Golden River springing from the hillside
scarcely five hundred feet above him. He paused for a moment to
breathe, and sprang on to complete his task.
At this instant a faint cry fell on his ear. He turned, and
saw a gray-haired old man extended on the rocks. His eyes were
sunk, his features deadly pale and gathered into an expression of
despair. "Water!" he stretched his arms to Hans, and cried
feebly, "Water! I am dying."
"I have none," replied Hans; "thou hast had thy share of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The American by Henry James: and other bad things besides. The Mysteries of the Fifth Avenue!
Some one ought to show them up."
"I don't believe it!" said Newman, very gravely. "I don't
believe that, in America, girls are ever subjected to compulsion.
I don't believe there have been a dozen cases of it since
the country began."
"Listen to the voice of the spread eagle!" cried Tristram.
"The spread eagle ought to use his wings," said Mrs. Tristram.
"Fly to the rescue of Madame de Cintre!"
"To her rescue?"
"Pounce down, seize her in your talons, and carry her off.
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