| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: But the priest had tied crape round the chalice of the crucifix,
having no other way of marking the mass as a funeral service; it was
as if God himself had been in mourning. The man suddenly noticed this,
and the sight appeared to call up some overwhelming memory, for great
drops of sweat stood out on his broad forehead.
Then the four silent actors in the scene looked mysteriously at one
another; and their souls in emulation seemed to stir and communicate
the thoughts within them until all were melted into one feeling of awe
and pity. It seemed to them that the royal martyr whose remains had
been consumed with quicklime, had been called up by their yearning and
now stood, a shadow in their midst, in all the majesty of a king. They
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Dreams & Dust by Don Marquis: There waits one word to end my journeyings:
"Lo, I am Death; I bid thee follow me!"
DREAMS AND DUST
SELVES
My dust in ruined Babylon
Is blown along the level plain,
And songs of mine at dawn have soared
Above the blue Sicilian main.
We are ourselves, and not ourselves . . .
For ever thwarting pride and will
Some forebear's passion leaps from death
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: "Faith," muttered Passepartout, somewhat flurried, "I've seen people
at Madame Tussaud's as lively as my new master!"
Madame Tussaud's "people," let it be said, are of wax, and are much
visited in London; speech is all that is wanting to make them human.
During his brief interview with Mr. Fogg, Passepartout had been
carefully observing him. He appeared to be a man about forty years of age,
with fine, handsome features, and a tall, well-shaped figure;
his hair and whiskers were light, his forehead compact and unwrinkled,
his face rather pale, his teeth magnificent. His countenance possessed
in the highest degree what physiognomists call "repose in action,"
a quality of those who act rather than talk. Calm and phlegmatic,
Around the World in 80 Days |
