| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: la"--no words, only a soft, running, effervescent melody, something
like that of a kettle on the boil. Gluck looked out of the window;
no, it was certainly in the house. Upstairs and downstairs; no, it
was certainly in that very room, coming in quicker time and clearer
notes every moment: "Lala-lira-la." All at once it struck Gluck
that it sounded louder near the furnace. He ran to the opening and
looked in. Yes, he saw right; it seemed to be coming not only out
of the furnace but out of the pot. He uncovered it, and ran back in
a great fright, for the pot was certainly singing! He stood in the
farthest corner of the room, with his hands up and his mouth open,
for a minute or two, when the singing stopped and the voice became
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Jolly Corner by Henry James: a pitch, because it saved his nerves or his skin, but because, much
more valuably, it saved the situation. When I say he "jumped" at
it I feel the consonance of this term with the fact that - at the
end indeed of I know not how long - he did move again, he crossed
straight to the door. He wouldn't touch it - it seemed now that he
might if he would: he would only just wait there a little, to
show, to prove, that he wouldn't. He had thus another station,
close to the thin partition by which revelation was denied him; but
with his eyes bent and his hands held off in a mere intensity of
stillness. He listened as if there had been something to hear, but
this attitude, while it lasted, was his own communication. "If you
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: Petrarca.
v. 50. Arab hordes.] The Arabians seem to be put for the
barbarians in general.
v. 54. That hill.] The city of Fesulae, which was sacked by the
Romans after the defeat of Cataline.
v. 56. Near the hour.] Near the time of our Saviour's birth.
v. 59. What then it wrought.] In the following fifteen lines
the Poet has comprised the exploits of Julius Caesar.
v. 75. In its next bearer's gripe.] With Augustus Caesar.
v. 89. The third Caesar.] "Tiberius the third of the Caesars,
had it in his power to surpass the glory of all who either
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
