| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment,
its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity? Well, I do.
It takes a man all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly.
It's really easier to face bereavement, dishonour, and the perdition
of one's soul--than this kind of prolonged hunger. Sad, but true.
And these chaps, too, had no earthly reason for any kind
of scruple. Restraint! I would just as soon have expected restraint
from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield.
But there was the fact facing me--the fact dazzling, to be seen,
like the foam on the depths of the sea, like a ripple on an
unfathomable enigma, a mystery greater--when I thought of it--
Heart of Darkness |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: smiled down upon him his slow smile and, raising the hind
quarter in his strong brown hands buried his teeth in the ten-
der, juicy flesh.
For the third time Numa, the lion, uttered that low pleading
whine and then, with a rueful and disgusted shake of his
head, Tarzan of the Apes raised the balance of the carcass of
Bara, the deer, and hurled it to the famished beast below.
"Old woman," muttered the ape-man. "Tarzan has become
a weak old woman. Presently he would shed tears because he
has killed Bara, the deer. He cannot see Numa, his enemy,
go hungry, because Tarzan's heart is turning to water by con-
Tarzan the Untamed |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Richard III by William Shakespeare: That you might well have signified the same
Unto the citizens, who haply may
Misconster us in him and wail his death.
MAYOR. But, my good lord, your Grace's words shall serve
As well as I had seen and heard him speak;
And do not doubt, right noble Princes both,
But I'll acquaint our duteous citizens
With all your just proceedings in this cause.
GLOUCESTER. And to that end we wish'd your lordship here,
T' avoid the the the censures of the carping world.
BUCKINGHAM. Which since you come too late of our intent,
Richard III |
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 Republic by Plato: object, invoked the anger of the God against the Achaeans. Now as far as
these lines,
'And he prayed all the Greeks, but especially the two sons of Atreus, the
chiefs of the people,'
the poet is speaking in his own person; he never leads us to suppose that
he is any one else. But in what follows he takes the person of Chryses,
and then he does all that he can to make us believe that the speaker is not
Homer, but the aged priest himself. And in this double form he has cast
the entire narrative of the events which occurred at Troy and in Ithaca and
throughout the Odyssey.
Yes.
The Republic |
