| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Burning Daylight by Jack London: upon him, he heard, faint and far, drifting down the green abyss
of the canon, Dede's voice, crying:--
"Here, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick! Here, chick, chick,
chick!"
He was astounded at the lapse of time. She had left her sewing
on the porch and was feeding the chickens preparatory to getting
supper. The afternoon was gone. He could not conceive that he
had been away that long.
Again came the call: "Here, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick!
Here, chick, chick, chick!"
It was the way she always called--first five, and then three. He
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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 Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: how completely the enchantments of the new dramatic music upset
the judgment of artists of eminent discernment. Meyerbeer was,
people said (old gentlemen still say so in Paris), the successor
of Beethoven: he was, if a less perfect musician than Mozart, a
profounder genius. Above all, he was original and daring. Wagner
himself raved about the duet in the fourth act of Les Huguenots
as wildly as anyone.
Yet all this effect of originality and profundity was produced by
a quite limited talent for turning striking phrases, exploiting
certain curious and rather catching rhythms and modulations, and
devising suggestive or eccentric instrumentation. On its
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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 The Koran: they are heedless. Have they not reflected in themselves, that God
created not the heavens and the earth, and what is between the two
except in truth, and for a stated and appointed time? but, verily,
many men in the meeting of their Lord do disbelieve.
Have they not journeyed on in the land and seen how was the end of
those before them who were stronger than they, and who turned up the
ground and cultivated it more than they do cultivate it? and there
came to them their apostles with manifest signs; for God would never
wrong them: it was themselves they wronged!
Then evil was the end of those who did evil, in that they said the
signs of God were lies and mocked thereat.
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 Hellenica by Xenophon: At the same time they despatched another officer on board these
vessels named Diphridas, on a separate mission. His orders were to
cross over into Asia and to secure the states which had received
Thibron. He was also to pick up the survivors of Thibron's army, and
with these troops, aided by a second army which he would collect from
any other quarter open to him, he was to prosecute the war against
Struthas. Diphridas followed out his instructions, and amongst other
achievements was fortunate enough to capture Tigranes,[22] the son-in-
law of Struthas, with his wife, on their road to Sardis. The sum paid
for their ransom was so large that he at once had the wherewithal to
pay his mercenaries. Diphridas was no less attractive than his
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