| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: upon toys; sometimes upon a building; sometimes
upon erecting of an order; sometimes upon the ad-
vancing of a person; sometimes upon obtaining
excellency in some art, or feat of the hand; as Nero
for playing on the harp, Domitian for certainty
of the hand with the arrow, Commodus for play-
ing at fence, Caracalla for driving chariots, and
the like. This seemeth incredible, unto those that
know not the principle, that the mind of man, is
more cheered and refreshed by profiting in small
things, than by standing at a stay, in great. We see
Essays of Francis Bacon |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: a Roman pun included. We learn from early manuscripts that the
place was called VILULA MISERICORDIAE. It was originally a nunnery,
founded by Queen Bertha, but done away with by King Penda, the
reactionary to Paganism after St. Augustine. Then comes your
uncle's place--Lesser Hill. Though it is so close to the Castle, it
is not connected with it. It is a freehold, and, so far as we know,
of equal age. It has always belonged to your family."
"Then there only remains the Castle!"
"That is all; but its history contains the histories of all the
others--in fact, the whole history of early England." Sir
Nathaniel, seeing the expectant look on Adam's face, went on:
Lair of the White Worm |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Man against the Sky by Edwin Arlington Robinson: Deserted and told only by the tree that knows the most,
And overgrown with golden-rod as if there were no ghost.
Hillcrest
(To Mrs. Edward MacDowell)
No sound of any storm that shakes
Old island walls with older seas
Comes here where now September makes
An island in a sea of trees.
Between the sunlight and the shade
A man may learn till he forgets
The roaring of a world remade,
|
