| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: doubled the Linen, and laid the Half of it below them,
their nether jaws being parted from their Heads; but
being young Men, their Teeth remained. All were Witness
to the Holes in each of their Heads, which the Hangman
broke with his Hammer; and according to the Bigness of
their Sculls, we laid the Jaws to them, and drew the
other Half of the Linen above them, and stufft the Coffin
with Shavings. Some prest hard to go thorow the chief
Parts of the City as was done at the Revolution; but this
we refused, considering that it looked airy and frothy,
to make such Show of them, and inconsistent with the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: "But she's mine!" Nick cried, in a fierce triumph of
recovery ...
His eyes were so full of her that he shut them to hold in the
crowding vision.
It remained with him, at first, as a complete picture; then
gradually it broke up into its component parts, the child
vanished, the strange house vanished, and Susy alone stood
before him, his own Susy, only his Susy, yet changed, worn,
tempered--older, even--with sharper shadows under the cheek-
bones, the brows drawn, the joint of the slim wrist more
prominent. It was not thus that his memory had evoked her, and
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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 Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: above.
And oh! Look at the pig turning round and round solemnly in the
corner under the rock. Poor piggy! He ought to have been at home
safe in his stye, and not wandering about the hills. And what are
these coming now?
Butter firkins, I think. Yes. This is a great flood. It is well
if there are no lives lost.
But is it not cruel of Madam How to make such floods?
Well--let us ask one of these men who are looking over the bridge.
Why, what does he say? I cannot understand one word. Is he
talking Irish?
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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 The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: children. When one is young, it is necessary to enjoy life. So
she occupied herself less with the children, not with the same
intensity as formerly, and paid more and more attention to
herself, to her face,--although she concealed it,--to her
pleasures, and even to her perfection from the worldly point of
view. She began to devote herself passionately to the piano,
which had formerly stood forgotten in the corner. There, at the
piano, began the adventure.
"The MAN appeared."
Posdnicheff seemed embarrassed, and twice again there escaped him
that nasal sound of which I spoke above. I thought that it gave
The Kreutzer Sonata |
