| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Intentions by Oscar Wilde: flatters the London citizens in a suit of mean and shabby armour,
and, as soon as he has stepped in blood to the throne, marches
through the streets in crown and George and Garter; the climax of
THE TEMPEST is reached when Prospero, throwing off his enchanter's
robes, sends Ariel for his hat and rapier, and reveals himself as
the great Italian Duke; the very Ghost in HAMLET changes his
mystical apparel to produce different effects; and as for Juliet, a
modern playwright would probably have laid her out in her shroud,
and made the scene a scene of horror merely, but Shakespeare arrays
her in rich and gorgeous raiment, whose loveliness makes the vault
'a feasting presence full of light,' turns the tomb into a bridal
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: As we passed at a dizzy height over the narrow domains
of the therns the flash of powder far below bore mute
witness to the ferocity of the battle that still raged along
that cruel frontier. No sound of conflict reached our ears,
for in the rarefied atmosphere of our great altitude no sound wave
could penetrate; they were dissipated in thin air far below us.
It became intensely cold. Breathing was difficult. The girl,
Phaidor, and the black pirate kept their eyes glued upon me.
At length the girl spoke.
"Unconsciousness comes quickly at this altitude," she said quietly.
"Unless you are inviting death for us all you had best drop,
The Gods of Mars |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: dead Kulonga's own hut, filled their hearts with dismay, and
conjured in their poor brains only the most frightful of
superstitious explanations.
They stood in little groups, talking in low tones, and ever
casting affrighted glances behind them from their great
rolling eyes.
Tarzan of the Apes watched them for a while from his
lofty perch in the great tree. There was much in their
demeanor which he could not understand, for of superstition
he was ignorant, and of fear of any kind he had but a vague
conception.
Tarzan of the Apes |
