| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Verses 1889-1896 by Rudyard Kipling: they 'ave proved it plain and true --
That whether it's Widow, or whether it's ship, Victorier's work is to do,
An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies --
soldier an' sailor too!
SAPPERS
Verses 1889-1896 |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Adventure by Jack London: that was more immediately pleasing. But she did not like the
mouth. It was made for kissing, and she abhorred kisses. This was
not a deliberately achieved concept; it came to her in the form of
a faint and vaguely intangible repulsion. For the moment she knew
a fleeting doubt of the man. Perhaps Sheldon was right in his
judgment of the other. She did not know, and it concerned her
little; for boats, and the sea, and the things and happenings of
the sea were of far more vital interest to her than men, and the
next moment she was staring through the warm tropic darkness at the
loom of the sails and the steady green of the moving sidelight, and
listening eagerly to the click of the sweeps in the rowlocks. In
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: originator of Lucien's overthrow.
Jacques Collin, whose face was of a brick-red hue, for a scarcely
perceptible moment turned white, almost ashy; all his blood rushed to
his heart, so furious and maddening was his longing to spring on this
dangerous reptile and crush it; but he controlled the brutal impulse,
suppressing it with the force that made him so formidable. He put on a
polite manner and the tone of obsequious civility which he had
practised since assuming the garb of a priest of a superior Order, and
he bowed to the little old man.
"Monsieur Corentin," said he, "do I owe the pleasure of this meeting
to chance, or am I so happy as to be the cause of your visit here?"
|
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 The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx: set upon by the other portions of the bourgeoisie, the landlord,
the shopkeeper, the pawnbroker, etc.
The lower strata of the middle class -- the small tradespeople,
shopkeepers, retired tradesmen generally, the handicraftsmen and
peasants -- all these sink gradually into the proletariat, partly
because their diminutive capital does not suffice for the scale
on which Modern Industry is carried on, and is swamped in the
competition with the large capitalists, partly because their
specialized skill is rendered worthless by the new methods of
production. Thus the proletariat is recruited from all classes
of the population.
The Communist Manifesto |
