| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: her beauty; but she found herself snubbed by girls of birth and
fortune, destined by-and-by to play a greater part in the world than a
mere plebeian, the daughter of a mother who was dependent on the
settlement of Piedefer's estate. Dinah, having raised herself for the
moment above her companions, now aimed at remaining on a level with
them for the rest of her life. She determined, therefore, to renounce
Calvinism, in the hope that the Cardinal would extend his favor to his
proselyte and interest himself in her prospects. You may from this
judge of Mademoiselle Dinah's superiority, since at the age of
seventeen she was a convert solely from ambition.
The Archbishop, possessed with the idea that Dinah Piedefer would
The Muse of the Department |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: "At last religion wins the day, uplifting the voice that governs
worlds, that invites all sorrow to come for consolation, all
repentance to be forgiven and helped.
"The whole house was stirred by the chorus:
"Malheureaux on coupables
Hatez-vous d'accourir!
"In the terrific tumult of raving passions, the holy Voice would have
been unheard; but at this critical moment it sounds like thunder; the
divine Catholic Church rises glorious in light. And here I was amazed
to find that after such lavish use of harmonic treasure, the composer
had come upon a new vein with the splendid chorus: '/Gloire a la
Gambara |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: reality bore but a slight resemblance to the counterfeit
presentation by surrounding tongues. Yet, upon the whole,
neither the man nor the woman lost dignity by sudden death.
Misfortune had struck them gracefully, cutting off their erratic
histories with a catastrophic dash, instead of, as with many,
attenuating each life to an uninteresting meagreness,
through long years of wrinkles, neglect, and decay.
On those most nearly concerned the effect was somewhat different.
Strangers who had heard of many such cases now merely
heard of one more; but immediately where a blow falls
no previous imaginings amount to appreciable preparation
Return of the Native |
