| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: that made answer to the question, when a man
should marry, - A young man not yet, an elder
man not at all. It is often seen that bad husbands,
have very good wives; whether it be, that it raiseth
the price of their husband's kindness, when it
comes; or that the wives take a pride in their
patience. But this never fails, if the bad husbands
were of their own choosing, against their friends'
consent; for then they will be sure to make good
their own folly.
Of Envy
Essays of Francis Bacon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: expensive and unwholesome food in the refreshment-rooms, the
general rudeness and coarseness in social intercourse -- all
this, and a great deal more which would take too long to reckon
up, affects me as much as any working man who is famous only in
his alley. In what way, does my exceptional position find
expression? Admitting that I am celebrated a thousand times over,
that I am a hero of whom my country is proud. They publish
bulletins of my illness in every paper, letters of sympathy come
to me by post from my colleagues, my pupils, the general public;
but all that does not prevent me from dying in a strange bed, in
misery, in utter loneliness. Of course, no one is to blame for
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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 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: next to being in want that a woman can be reduced to: I say
a woman, because 'tis evident men can be their own advisers,
and their own directors, and know how to work themselves
out of difficulties and into business better than women; but if
a woman has no friend to communicate her affairs to, and to
advise and assist her, 'tis ten to one but she is undone; nay,
and the more money she has, the more danger she is in of being
wronged and deceived; and this was my case in the affair of
the #100 which I left in the hands of the goldsmith, as above,
whose credit, it seems, was upon the ebb before, but I, that
had no knowledge of things and nobody to consult with, knew
Moll Flanders |
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 Songs of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: With the half of a broken hope for a pillow at night
That somehow the right is the right
And the smooth shall bloom from the rough:
Lord, if that were enough?
XXVI - MY WIFE
TRUSTY, dusky, vivid, true,
With eyes of gold and bramble-dew,
Steel-true and blade-straight,
The great artificer
Made my mate.
Honour, anger, valour, fire;
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