| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: brown nets, like the cobwebs of gigantic spiders,
lay on the shabby grass of the slope; and, looking
up from the end of the street, the people of the
town would recognise the two Carvils by the creep-
ing slowness of their gait. Captain Hagberd, pot-
tering aimlessly about his cottages, would raise his
head to see how they got on in their promenade.
He advertised still in the Sunday papers for
Harry Hagberd. These sheets were read in for-
eign parts to the end of the world, he informed Bes-
sie. At the same time he seemed to think that his
To-morrow |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: and our steps and voices re-echoed from the quiet houses. It was
the high-water, full and strange, of that weekly trance to which
the city of Edinburgh is subjected: the apotheosis of the SAWBATH;
and I confess the spectacle wanted not grandeur, however much it
may have lacked cheerfulness. There are few religious ceremonies
more imposing. As we thus walked and talked in a public seclusion
the bells broke out ringing through all the bounds of the city, and
the streets began immediately to be thronged with decent church-
goers.
'Ah!' said my companion, 'there are the bells! Now, sir, as you
are a stranger I must offer you the hospitality of my pew. I do
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: drove her back; and Cadmus followed the stray Brindle till he
was almost ready to drop down with fatigue.
"O brindled cow," cried he, in a tone of despair, "do you never
mean to stop?"
He had now grown too intent on following her to think of
lagging behind, however long the way, and whatever might be his
fatigue. Indeed, it seemed as if there were something about the
animal that bewitched people. Several persons who happened to
see the brindled cow, and Cadmus following behind, began to
trudge after her, precisely as he did. Cadmus was glad of
somebody to converse with, and therefore talked very freely to
Tanglewood Tales |
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 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: "'Feeling is believing' and 'A Straight Line to the touch is worth
a Circle to the sight'" -- two Proverbs, very common
with the Frailer Sex in Flatland.
"Well," said I, for I was afraid of irritating her, "if it must be so,
demand an introduction." Assuming her most gracious manner,
my Wife advanced towards the Stranger, "Permit me, Madam,
to feel and be felt by ----" then, suddenly recoiling, "Oh!
it is not a Woman, and there are no angles either, not a trace of one.
Can it be that I have so misbehaved to a perfect Circle?"
"I am indeed, in a certain sense a Circle," replied the Voice,
"and a more perfect Circle than any in Flatland; but to speak
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
