| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Alcibiades II by Platonic Imitator: you change about in all directions, and never come to rest anywhere: what
you once most strongly inclined to suppose, you put aside again and quite
alter your mind. If the God to whose shrine you are going should appear at
this moment, and ask before you made your prayer, 'Whether you would desire
to have one of the things which we mentioned at first, or whether he should
leave you to make your own request:'--what in either case, think you, would
be the best way to take advantage of the opportunity?
ALCIBIADES: Indeed, Socrates, I could not answer you without
consideration. It seems to me to be a wild thing (The Homeric word margos
is said to be here employed in allusion to the quotation from the
'Margites' which Socrates has just made; but it is not used in the sense
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: entitled "The Columbian Orator." Every opportu-
nity I got, I used to read this book. Among much of
other interesting matter, I found in it a dialogue be-
tween a master and his slave. The slave was repre-
sented as having run away from his master three
times. The dialogue represented the conversation
which took place between them, when the slave was
retaken the third time. In this dialogue, the whole
argument in behalf of slavery was brought forward
by the master, all of which was disposed of by the
slave. The slave was made to say some very smart as
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from 1492 by Mary Johntson: That day we turned. ``We will go back to Veragua and
lade with gold, and then we'll sail to Jamaica and to Hispaniola
where this time we shall be welcome! Then to Spain
where the Queen will give me a stronger fleet.''
Our ships hailed the turning. Even the Adelantado, even
Diego Mendez and Juan Sanchez and Bartholomew Fiesco
who were of the boldest drew long breath as of men respited
from death.
Not so many have known and lived to tell of such weather
as now we met and in it rolled from wave to wave through
a long month.
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