| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: old, of both sexes, almost naked, might be seen
at all seasons of the year.
There were no beds given the slaves, unless one
coarse blanket be considered such, and none but
the men and women had these. This, however, is
not considered a very great privation. They find less
difficulty from the want of beds, than from the want
of time to sleep; for when their day's work in the
field is done, the most of them having their wash-
ing, mending, and cooking to do, and having few or
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: it was, he said it was now called Aston Hall and was owned by Mr.
Watt, but it was formerly owned by the Bracebridges, and was the
veritable "Bracebridge Hall," and that his uncle had passed his
Christmas there.
On arriving here we found our rooms all ready for us at Long's
Hotel, kept by Mr. Markwell, a wine merchant. The house is in New
Bond Street, in the very centre of movement at the West End, and Mr.
Markwell full of personal assiduity, which we never see with us. He
comes to the carriage himself, gives me his arm to go upstairs, is
so much obliged to us for honoring his house, ushers you in to
dinner, at least on the first day, and seats you, etc., etc.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare: [Exeunt.]
SCENE 5. Rousillon. A room in the COUNTESS'S palace.
[Enter COUNTESS, LAFEU, and CLOWN.]
LAFEU.
No, no, no, son was misled with a snipt-taffeta fellow there,
whose villanous saffron would have made all the unbaked and
doughy youth of a nation in his colour: your daughter-in-law
had been alive at this hour, and your son here at home, more
advanced by the king than by that red-tail'd humble-bee I speak
of.
COUNTESS.
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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 Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: or wisest: he sees shrewdly as far as he sees, and therefore it is
easy to find out its full meaning; but with the greater men, you
cannot fathom their meaning; they do not even wholly measure it
themselves,--it is so wide. Suppose I had asked you, for instance,
to seek for Shakespeare's opinion, instead of Milton's on this
matter of Church authority?--or for Dante's? Have any of you, at
this instant, the least idea what either thought about it? Have you
ever balanced the scene with the bishops in 'Richard III.' against
the character of Cranmer? the description of St. Francis and St.
Dominic against that of him who made Virgil wonder to gaze upon
him,--"disteso, tanto vilmente, nell' eterno esilio;" or of him whom
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