| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems of William Blake by William Blake: The Clod of Clay heard the Worms voice & rais'd her pitying head:
She bowd over the weeping infant, and her life exhald
In milky fondness, then on Thel she fix'd her humble eyes
O beauty of the vales of Har, we live not for ourselves,
Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so I am indeed:
My bosom of itself is cold, and of itself is dark,
But he that loves the lowly, pours his oil upon my head
And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast.
And says; Thou mother of my children, I have loved thee
And I have given thee a crown that none can take away.
But how this is sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know
Poems of William Blake |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: left. Gazonal did not at first perceive them.
The toad, of surprising dimensions, was less alarming in himself than
through the effect of two topaz eyes, large as a ten-sous piece, which
cast forth vivid gleams. It was impossible to endure that look. The
toad is a creature as yet unexplained. Perhaps the whole animal
creation, including man, is comprised in it; for, as Lassailly said,
the toad exists indefinitely; and, as we know, it is of all created
animals the one whose marriage lasts the longest.
The black hen had a cage about two feet distant from the table,
covered with a green cloth, to which she came along a plank which
formed a sort of drawbridge between the cage and the table.
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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 All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare: who would have suspected an ambush where I was taken?
FIRST SOLDIER.
There is no remedy, sir, but you must die: the general says you
that have so traitorously discovered the secrets of your army,
and made such pestiferous reports of men very nobly held, can
serve the world for no honest use; therefore you must die. Come,
headsman, off with his head.
PAROLLES.
O Lord! sir, let me live, or let me see my death.
FIRST SOLDIER.
That shall you, and take your leave of all your friends.
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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 To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: old chap yet. He would cure him by a course of
judicious chaffing. He was watching the progress
of the treatment. Next week--next month--next
year! When the old skipper had put off the date
of that return till next year, he would be well on
his way to not saying any more about it. In other
matters he was quite rational, so this, too, was
bound to come. Such was the barber's firm opin-
ion.
Nobody had ever contradicted him; his own hair
had gone grey since that time, and Captain Hag-
To-morrow |
