| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: talking to me in a pleasant voice.
At last I reached my own box, and had some corn; and after Robert
had wrapped up my knees in wet cloths, he tied up my foot in a bran poultice,
to draw out the heat and cleanse it before the horse-doctor saw it
in the morning, and I managed to get myself down on the straw,
and slept in spite of the pain.
The next day after the farrier had examined my wounds, he said he hoped
the joint was not injured; and if so, I should not be spoiled for work,
but I should never lose the blemish. I believe they did the best
to make a good cure, but it was a long and painful one. Proud flesh,
as they called it, came up in my knees, and was burned out with caustic;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: which the excellence ought to be judged by the prophet and prophetic art';
and you will see how readily and truly I shall answer you. For there are
many such passages, particularly in the Odyssee; as, for example, the
passage in which Theoclymenus the prophet of the house of Melampus says to
the suitors:--
'Wretched men! what is happening to you? Your heads and your faces and
your limbs underneath are shrouded in night; and the voice of lamentation
bursts forth, and your cheeks are wet with tears. And the vestibule is
full, and the court is full, of ghosts descending into the darkness of
Erebus, and the sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil mist is spread
abroad (Od.).'
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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 Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?
And I have known the eyes already, known them all--
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
And how should I presume?
And I have known the arms already, known them all--
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
Prufrock/Other Observations |
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 People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: at least a minute. Then came silence. That was two weeks ago.
We have had no sign nor signal from Tom Billings since.
Chapter 2
I'll never forget my first impressions of Caspak as I circled
in, high over the surrounding cliffs. From the plane I looked
down through a mist upon the blurred landscape beneath me.
The hot, humid atmosphere of Caspak condenses as it is fanned
by the cold Antarctic air-currents which sweep across the
crater's top, sending a tenuous ribbon of vapor far out across
the Pacific. Through this the picture gave one the suggestion
of a colossal impressionistic canvas in greens and browns and
The People That Time Forgot |
