| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: Gotterdammerung as the mighty climax to a mighty epic, more
Wagnerian than all the other three sections put together, as not
to dare notice this startling atavism, especially if we find the
trio-conjurations more exhilarating than the metaphysical
discourses of Wotan in the three true music dramas of The Ring.
There is, however, no real atavism involved. Die Gotterdammerung,
though the last of The Ring dramas in order of performance, was
the first in order of conception and was indeed the root from
which all the others sprang.
The history of the matter is as follows. All Wagner's works prior
to The Ring are operas. The last of them, Lohengrin, is perhaps
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: direct and relevant question which required a direct answer.
"Sire, will you allow me to speak frankly as befits a loyal
soldier?" he asked to gain time.
"Colonel, I always require it," replied the Emperor. "Conceal
nothing from me, I wish to know absolutely how things are."
"Sire!" said Michaud with a subtle, scarcely perceptible smile on
his lips, having now prepared a well-phrased reply, "sire, I left
the whole army, from its chiefs to the lowest soldier, without
exception in desperate and agonized terror..."
"How is that?" the Emperor interrupted him, frowning sternly. "Would
misfortune make my Russians lose heart?... Never!"
War and Peace |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Richard III by William Shakespeare: By her, in his unlawful bed, he got
This Edward, whom our manners call the Prince.
More bitterly could I expostulate,
Save that, for reverence to some alive,
I give a sparing limit to my tongue.
Then, good my lord, take to your royal self
This proffer'd benefit of dignity;
If not to bless us and the land withal,
Yet to draw forth your noble ancestry
From the corruption of abusing times
Unto a lineal true-derived course.
Richard III |
