| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles: But he preserved it for the worst of woes.
For if thou art in sooth what this man saith,
God pity thee! thou wast to misery born.
OEDIPUS
Ah me! ah me! all brought to pass, all true!
O light, may I behold thee nevermore!
I stand a wretch, in birth, in wedlock cursed,
A parricide, incestuously, triply cursed!
[Exit OEDIPUS]
CHORUS
(Str. 1)
Oedipus Trilogy |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: fell inwards on the carpet.
The besiegers, appalled by their own riot and the stillness
that had succeeded, stood back a little and peered in. There lay
the cabinet before their eyes in the quiet lamplight, a good fire
glowing and chattering on the hearth, the kettle singing its thin
strain, a drawer or two open, papers neatly set forth on the
business table, and nearer the fire, the things laid out for tea;
the quietest room, you would have said, and, but for the glazed
presses full of chemicals, the most commonplace that night in
London.
Right in the middle there lay the body of a man sorely
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Start in Life by Honore de Balzac: completely out of his mind. To the shame of youth let it be added that
good advice is never lacking to it. In the matter of Georges, Oscar
himself had a feeling of aversion for him; he felt humiliated before a
witness of that scene in the salon at Presles when Moreau had flung
him at the count's feet. The moral senses have their laws, which are
implacable, and we are always punished for disregarding them. There is
one in particular, which the animals themselves obey without
discussion, and invariably; it is that which tells us to avoid those
who have once injured us, with or without intention, voluntarily or
involuntarily. The creature from whom we receive either damage or
annoyance will always be displeasing to us. Whatever may be his rank
|
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 Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: observed that he was good-looking. She shut
the door and walked back slowly to the kitchen.
Much later on, she told Mrs. Smith, who shud-
dered at the bare idea of being touched by that
creature.
"Through this act of impulsive pity he was
brought back again within the pale of human rela-
tions with his new surroundings. He never forgot
it--never.
"That very same morning old Mr. Swaffer
(Smith's nearest neighbour) came over to give his
Amy Foster |
