| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Man against the Sky by Edwin Arlington Robinson: "All your little animals are in one picture --
One I've had before me since a year ago to-night;
And the picture where they live will be of you, Jane Wayland,
Till you find a way to kill them or to keep them out of sight." --
"Won't you ever see me as I am, John Gorham,
Leaving out the foolishness and all I never meant?
Somewhere in me there's a woman, if you know the way to find her.
Will you like me any better if I prove it and repent?"
"I doubt if I shall ever have the time, Jane Wayland;
And I dare say all this moonlight lying round us might as well
Fall for nothing on the shards of broken urns that are forgotten,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Alcibiades II by Platonic Imitator: Greek or Roman writings, the one which anticipates in the most striking
manner the modern science of political economy and gives an abstract form
to some of its principal doctrines.
For the translation of these two dialogues I am indebted to my friend and
secretary, Mr. Knight.
That the Dialogue which goes by the name of the Second Alcibiades is a
genuine writing of Plato will not be maintained by any modern critic, and
was hardly believed by the ancients themselves. The dialectic is poor and
weak. There is no power over language, or beauty of style; and there is a
certain abruptness and agroikia in the conversation, which is very un-
Platonic. The best passage is probably that about the poets:--the remark
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: the bull, and hoped that he would repel the hounds with his horns.
The bull replied: "I am very sorry, but I have an appointment with
a lady; but I feel sure that our friend the goat will do what you
want." The goat, however, feared that his back might do her some
harm if he took her upon it. The ram, he felt sure, was the
proper friend to apply to. So she went to the ram and told him
the case. The ram replied: "Another time, my dear friend. I do
not like to interfere on the present occasion, as hounds have been
known to eat sheep as well as hares." The Hare then applied, as a
last hope, to the calf, who regretted that he was unable to help
her, as he did not like to take the responsibility upon himself,
Aesop's Fables |
