| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: William Ashton, his conscience told him they had been
unhandsomely resented towards his daughter. When his thoughts
took this turn of self-reproach, the recollection of Lucy
Ashton's beautiful features, rendered yet more interesting by the
circumstances in which their meeting had taken place, made an
impression upon his mind at once soothing and painful. The
sweetness of her voice, the delicacy of her expressions, the
vivid glow of her filial affection, embittered his regret at
having repulsed her gratitude with rudeness, while, at the same
time, they placed before his imagination a picture of the most
seducing sweetness.
The Bride of Lammermoor |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Enoch Arden, &c. by Alfred Tennyson: `Gash thyself, priest, and honor thy brute Baal,
And to thy worst self sacrifice thyself,
For with thy worst self hast thou clothed thy God.'
Then came a Lord in no wise like to Baal.
The babe shall lead the lion. Surely now
The wilderness shall blossom as the rose.
Crown thyself, worm, and worship thine own lusts!--
No coarse and blockish God of acreage
Stands at thy gate for thee to grovel to--
Thy God is far diffused in noble groves
And princely halls, and farms, and flowing lawns,
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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 Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: somehow, and only sprays came over our quarter, turning the little
outside lane of deck into a mill race as deep as to the cockpit
coamings. I never remember anything more delightful and exciting.
Pretty soon after we were lying absolutely becalmed under the lee
of Hawaii, of which we had been warned; and the captain never
confessed he had done it on purpose, but when accused, he smiled.
Really, I suppose he did quite right, for we stood committed to a
dangerous race, and to bring her to the wind would have been rather
a heart-sickening manoeuvre.
R. L. S.
Letter: TO MARCEL SCHWOB
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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 Love Songs by Sara Teasdale: But oh, to the woman over the sea
Who will come at the close of day?
A half-hour more and I will hear
The key in the latch and the strong, quick tread --
But oh, the woman over the sea
Waiting at dusk for one who is dead!
Peace
Peace flows into me
As the tide to the pool by the shore;
It is mine forevermore,
It will not ebb like the sea.
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