| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: "Very important for you, I have no doubt," answered the Rocket,
"but I shall weep if I choose"; and he actually burst into real
tears, which flowed down his stick like rain-drops, and nearly
drowned two little beetles, who were just thinking of setting up
house together, and were looking for a nice dry spot to live in.
"He must have a truly romantic nature," said the Catherine Wheel,
"for he weeps when there is nothing at all to weep about"; and she
heaved a deep sigh, and thought about the deal box.
But the Roman Candle and the Bengal Light were quite indignant, and
kept saying, "Humbug! humbug!" at the top of their voices. They
were extremely practical, and whenever they objected to anything
|
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: destitute of the creative inspiration which he will take with him.
For ourselves, we have everything to make us happy here, and I
should be quite so, if I could forget that I had a country and
children with very dear friends 3,000 miles away. . . . There are
certain sympathies of country which one cannot overcome. On the
other hand I certainly enjoy pleasures of the highest kind, and am
every day floated like one in a dream into the midst of persons and
scenes that make my life seem more like a drama than a reality.
Nothing is more unreal than the actual presence of persons of whom
one has heard much, and long wished to see. One day I find myself
at dinner by the side of Sir Robert Peel, another by Lord John
|