| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: This is great. I wonder what will happen. O youth!
"Suddenly Mahon sighted a steamer far astern. Cap-
tain Beard said, 'We may do something with her yet.'
We hoisted two flags, which said in the international
language of the sea, 'On fire. Want immediate assis-
tance.' The steamer grew bigger rapidly, and by-and-
by spoke with two flags on her foremast, 'I am coming
to your assistance.'
"In half an hour she was abreast, to windward, within
hail, and rolling slightly, with her engines stopped. We
lost our composure, and yelled all together with excite-
Youth |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Rescue by Joseph Conrad: safeguards against deadly surprises. "How idle all this is," he
thought, finally. His next thought was that women were very
resourceful. It was true, he went on meditating with unwonted
cynicism, that strictly speaking they had only one resource but,
generally, it served--it served.
He was surprised by his supremely shameless bitterness at this
juncture. It was so uncalled for. This situation was too
complicated to be entrusted to a cynical or shameless hope. There
was nothing to trust to. At this moment of his meditation he
became aware of Lingard's approach. He raised his head eagerly.
D'Alcacer was not indifferent to his fate and even to Mr.
The Rescue |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: in gaining prominence; hence we knew that they must be infinitely
far off, and visible only because of their abnormal height. Little
by little, however, they rose grimly into the western sky; allowing
us to distinguish various bare, bleak, blackish summits, and to
catch the curious sense of fantasy which they inspired as seen
in the reddish antarctic light against the provocative background
of iridescent ice-dust clouds. In the whole spectacle there was
a persistent, pervasive hint of stupendous secrecy and potential
revelation. It was as if these stark, nightmare spires marked
the pylons of a frightful gateway into forbidden spheres of dream,
and complex gulfs of remote time, space, and ultra-dimensionality.
At the Mountains of Madness |
