| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience;
These few days' wonder will be quickly worn.
[Enter a Herald.]
HERALD.
I summon your grace to his majesty's parliament,
Holden at Bury the first of this next month.
GLOSTER.
And my consent ne'er ask'd herein before!
This is close dealing.--Well, I will be there.--
[Exit Herald.]
My Nell, I take my leave;--and, master sheriff,
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: confident glitter falling here and there on the walls of houses or
lowered upon the heads of the unconscious stream of people on the
pavements. The ghost of a sickly smile altered the set of
Ossipon's thick lips at the thought of the walls nodding, of people
running for life at the sight of those spectacles. If they had
only known! What a panic! He murmured interrogatively: "Been
sitting long here?"
"An hour or more," answered the other negligently, and took a pull
at the dark beer. All his movements - the way he grasped the mug,
the act of drinking, the way he set the heavy glass down and folded
his arms - had a firmness, an assured precision which made the big
The Secret Agent |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens: that all these points were tacitly agreed upon between us.'
'I knew you were embarrassed, sir,' returned the son, raising his
head for a moment, and then falling into his former attitude, 'but
I had no idea we were the beggared wretches you describe. How
could I suppose it, bred as I have been; witnessing the life you
have always led; and the appearance you have always made?'
'My dear child,' said the father--'for you really talk so like a
child that I must call you one--you were bred upon a careful
principle; the very manner of your education, I assure you,
maintained my credit surprisingly. As to the life I lead, I must
lead it, Ned. I must have these little refinements about me. I
Barnaby Rudge |
