| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: the greater profit of the world they slip one by one into the open:
while in the offing the inward-bound ships come up singly and in
bunches from under the sea horizon closing the mouth of the river
between Orfordness and North Foreland. They all converge upon the
Nore, the warm speck of red upon the tones of drab and gray, with
the distant shores running together towards the west, low and flat,
like the sides of an enormous canal. The sea-reach of the Thames
is straight, and, once Sheerness is left behind, its banks seem
very uninhabited, except for the cluster of houses which is
Southend, or here and there a lonely wooden jetty where petroleum
ships discharge their dangerous cargoes, and the oil-storage tanks,
The Mirror of the Sea |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: Judge, of course, wrote very civilly. He hoped that "this dunning
reminder" might be excused. As Balaam read the reminder, he
wished that he had sent the horses before. The Judge was a
greater man than he in the Territory. Balaam could not but excuse
the "dunning reminder,"--but he was ready to be disagreeable to
somebody at once.
"Well," he said, musing aloud in his annoyance, "Judge Henry
wants them by the 30th. Well, this is the 24th, and time enough
yet."
"This is the 27th," said the Virginian, briefly.
That made a difference! Not so easy to reach Sunk Creek in good
The Virginian |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Heap O' Livin' by Edgar A. Guest: Then, armed with cookies or with cake,
Their way into the yard they make,
And every feathered playmate comes
To gather up his share of crumbs.
The finest garden that I know
Is one where little children grow,
Where cheeks turn brown and eyes are bright,
And all is laughter and delight.
Oh, you may brag of gardens fine,
But let the children race in mine;
And let the roses, white and red,
A Heap O' Livin' |
