| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: Venice theatre.
"Living was cheap, lodging inexpensive. I had a room in that Capello
palace from which the famous Bianca came forth one evening to become a
Grand Duchess of Tuscany. And I would dream that my unrecognized fame
would also emerge from thence one day to be crowned.
"I spent my evenings at the theatre and my days in work. Then came
disaster. The performance of an opera in which I had experimented,
trying my music, was a failure. No one understood my score for the
/Martiri/. Set Beethoven before the Italians and they are out of their
depth. No one had patience enough to wait for the effect to be
produced by the different motives given out by each instrument, which
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: others that of ball--for boys were boys, and played at ball even
in those faraway days--a game called trap-ball. Even yet in some
parts of England it is played just as it was in Myles Falworth's
day, and enjoyed just as Myles and his friends enjoyed it.
So now that the sun was warm and the weather pleasant the game of
trap-ball was in full swing every afternoon, the play-ground
being an open space between the wall that surrounded the castle
grounds and that of the privy garden--the pleasance in which the
ladies of the Earl's family took the air every day, and upon
which their apartments opened.
Now one fine breezy afternoon, when the lads were shouting and
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Koran: We have decreed amongst you death; but we are not
forestalled from making the likes of you in exchange,
or producing you as ye know not of.
Ye do know the first production-why then do ye not mind?
Have ye considered what ye till?
Do ye make it bear seed, or do we make it bear seed?
If we pleased we could make it mere grit, so that ye
would pause to marvel:
'Verily,we have got into debt and we are excluded.'
Have ye considered the water which ye drink?
Do ye make it come down from the clouds, or do we make
The Koran |
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 Crito by Plato: SOCRATES: There appeared to me the likeness of a woman, fair and comely,
clothed in bright raiment, who called to me and said: O Socrates,
'The third day hence to fertile Phthia shalt thou go.' (Homer, Il.)
CRITO: What a singular dream, Socrates!
SOCRATES: There can be no doubt about the meaning, Crito, I think.
CRITO: Yes; the meaning is only too clear. But, oh! my beloved Socrates,
let me entreat you once more to take my advice and escape. For if you die
I shall not only lose a friend who can never be replaced, but there is
another evil: people who do not know you and me will believe that I might
have saved you if I had been willing to give money, but that I did not
care. Now, can there be a worse disgrace than this--that I should be
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