| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Essays & Lectures by Oscar Wilde: for instance, they were quite unknown. Mr. Mahaffy, it is true,
tells us that Pericles used to present peacocks to the great ladies
of Athenian society in order to induce them to sit to his friend
Phidias, and we know that Polygnotus introduced into his picture of
the Trojan women the face of Elpinice, the celebrated sister of the
great Conservative leader of the day, but these GRANDES DAMES
clearly do not come under our category. As for the old masters,
they undoubtedly made constant studies from their pupils and
apprentices, and even their religious pictures are full of the
portraits of their friends and relations, but they do not seem to
have had the inestimable advantage of the existence of a class of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: consequences, though. Don't you remember being ready to apologize? What
do you remember, anyhow?"
Billy consulted his recollections with care: they seemed to break off at
the champagne. That was early. Bertie was astonished. Did not Billy
remember singing "Brace up and dress the Countess," and "A noble lord
the Earl of Leicester"? He had sung them quite in his usual manner,
conversing freely between whiles. In fact, to see and hear him, no one
would have suspected-- "It must have been that extra silver-fizz you
took before dinner," said Bertie. "Yes," said Billy;" that's what it
must have been." Bertie supplied the gap in his memory,--a matter of
several hours, it seemed. During most of this time Billy had met the
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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 Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: rebels across the border--you're always threatening that.
Anyhow, don't stay here and run any chance of stirring Al up.
He'd kill you just the same as you would kill another man for
insulting your sister. Don't make trouble for Al. That'd only
make sorrow for her, Gene."
The subtle import was not host upon Madeline. She was distressed
because she could not avoid hearing what was not meant for her
ears. She made an effort not to listen, and it was futile.
"Flo, you can't see this a man's way," he replied, quietly.
"I'll stay and take my medicine."
"Gene, I could sure swear at you or any other pig-head of a
The Light of Western Stars |
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 Glaucus/The Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley: refined and educated, shall consider it as ludicrous - to use no
stronger word - to be ignorant of the commonest facts and laws of
this living planet, as to be ignorant of the rudiments of two dead
languages. All honour to the said two languages. Ignorance of
them is a serious weakness; for it implies ignorance of many things
else; and indeed, without some knowledge of them, the nomenclature
of the physical sciences cannot be mastered. But I have got to
discover that a boy's time is more usefully spent, and his
intellect more methodically trained, by getting up Ovid's Fasti
with an ulterior hope of being able to write a few Latin verses,
than in getting up Professor Rolleston's "Forms of Animal Life," or
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