| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Yes; I haven't had anything to eat since last night's supper," she
exclaimed. "Are there any eatables in Bunbury?"
They looked at one another undecidedly, and then one portly bun man,
who seemed a person of consequence, stepped forward and said:
"Little girl, to be frank with you, we are all eatables. Everything
in Bunbury is eatable to ravenous human creatures like you. But it is
to escape being eaten and destroyed that we have secluded ourselves in
this out-of-the-way place, and there is neither right nor justice in
your coming here to feed upon us."
Dorothy looked at him longingly.
"You're bread, aren't you?" she asked.
The Emerald City of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dark Lady of the Sonnets by George Bernard Shaw: shall scarce dare disrobe until the palace gates are between us.
SHAKESPEAR. _[kissing her hand]_ My body goes through the gate into
the darkness, madam; but my thoughts follow you.
ELIZABETH. How! to my bed!
SHAKESPEAR. No, madam, to your prayers, in which I beg you to
remember my theatre.
ELIZABETH. That is my prayer to posterity. Forget not your own to
God; and so goodnight, Master Will.
SHAKESPEAR. Goodnight, great Elizabeth. God save the Queen!
ELIZABETH. Amen.
_Exeunt severally: she to her chamber: he, in custody of the warder,
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: grew rather low upon her forehead, was dark, and her large, soft
eyes were grey. I did not know, and to this moment I do not know
if she was really beautiful, but certainly the light that shone
through those eyes of hers and seemed to be reflected upon her
delicate features, was beauty itself. It was like that glowing
through a thin vase of the purest alabaster within which a lamp
is placed, and I felt this effect to arise from no chance, like
that of the lily-setting, but, as it were, from the lamp of the
spirit within.
Our eyes met, and I suppose that she saw the wonder and
admiration in mine. At any rate her amused smile faded, leaving
When the World Shook |
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 Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: road, and Eric, from behind, saw her long veil fluttering in the
wind. It had fluttered just so in his dreams last night and the
night before. With a sudden inspiration of courage he overtook her
and rode beside her, looking intently at her half-averted face.
Before, he had only stolen occasional glances at it, seen it in
blinding flashes, always with more or less embarrassment, but now
he determined to let every line of it sink into his memory. Men of
the world would have said that it was an unusual face, nervous,
finely cut, with clear, elegant lines that betokened ancestry. Men
of letters would have called it a historic face, and would have
conjectured at what old passions, long asleep, what old sorrows
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
