| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Poems of William Blake by William Blake: Of him that walketh in the garden in the evening time.
The Lilly of the valley breathing in the humble grass
Answerd the lovely maid and said: I am a watry weed,
And I am very small and love to dwell in lowly vales:
So weak the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head
Yet I am visited from heaven and he that smiles on all
Walks in the valley, and each morn over me spreads his hand
Saying, rejoice thou humble grass, thou new-born lily flower.
Thou gentle maid of silent valleys and of modest brooks:
For thou shall be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna:
Till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs
Poems of William Blake |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: He raised his face, gave her a dark look, and made no answer. The
sister felt as if an icy mantle had fallen over her, and said no more.
At the sight of him, the glow of gratitude and curiosity died away in
their hearts. Perhaps he was not so cold, not so taciturn, not so
stern as he seemed to them, for in their highly wrought mood they were
ready to pour out their feeling of friendship. But the three poor
prisoners understood that he wished to be a stranger to them; and
submitted. The priest fancied that he saw a smile on the man's lips as
he saw their preparations for his visit, but it was at once repressed.
He heard mass, said his prayer, and then disappeared, declining, with
a few polite words, Mademoiselle de Langeais' invitation to partake of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: for his girl. His wife was dead, and the child was being brought up by
his sisters. He regretted the streets, the pavements, the cafes, his
friends of many years; all the things he used to see, day after day;
all the thoughts suggested by familiar things--the thoughts
effortless, monotonous, and soothing of a Government clerk; he
regretted all the gossip, the small enmities, the mild venom, and the
little jokes of Government offices. "If I had had a decent brother-
in-law," Carlier would remark, "a fellow with a heart, I would not be
here." He had left the army and had made himself so obnoxious to his
family by his laziness and impudence, that an exasperated
brother-in-law had made superhuman efforts to procure him an appoint-
Tales of Unrest |
