| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Paradise Lost by John Milton: Of thy presumed return! event perverse!
Thou never from that hour in Paradise
Foundst either sweet repast, or sound repose;
Such ambush, hid among sweet flowers and shades,
Waited with hellish rancour imminent
To intercept thy way, or send thee back
Despoiled of innocence, of faith, of bliss!
For now, and since first break of dawn, the Fiend,
Mere serpent in appearance, forth was come;
And on his quest, where likeliest he might find
The only two of mankind, but in them
Paradise Lost |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: Then Eva, looking through the drooping vines, beheld a garden filled
with the loveliest flowers; fair as were all the blossoms she had seen
in Fairy-Land, none were so beautiful as these. The rose glowed
with a deeper crimson, the lily's soft leaves were more purely white,
the crocus and humble cowslip shone like sunlight, and the violet
was blue as the sky that smiled above it.
"How beautiful they are," whispered Eva, "but, dear Rose-Leaf, why
do you keep them here, and why call you this your fairest sight?"
"Look again, and I will tell you," answered the Fairy.
Eva looked, and saw from every flower a tiny form come forth to
welcome the Elves, who all, save Rose-Leaf, had flown above the wall,
Flower Fables |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: stopped as if I were frozen, and no wonder, for as I was about to spring
up I heard the lion behind me, and next second I felt the brute, ay, as
plainly as I can feel this table. I felt him, I say, sniffing at my
left leg that was hanging down.
"My word! I did feel queer; I don't think that I ever felt so queer
before. I dared not move for the life of me, and the odd thing was that
I seemed to lose power over my leg, which developed an insane sort of
inclination to kick out of its own mere motion--just as hysterical
people want to laugh when they ought to be particularly solemn. Well,
the lion sniffed and sniffed, beginning at my ankle and slowly nosing
away up to my thigh. I thought that he was going to get hold then, but
Long Odds |
