| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "I know," said the Canary. "I'm only removing with my
magic the corns from your last ten toes."
"Thank you for being so thoughtful," he said
gratefully, and now they noticed that Tommy Kwikstep
was quite a nice looking young fellow.
"What will you do now~" asked Woot the Monkey.
"First," he answered, "I must deliver a note which
I've carried in my pocket ever since the witch, or
fairy, or whatever she was, granted my foolish wish.
And I am resolved never to speak again without taking
time to think carefully on what I am going to say, for
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: have to bear the brunt of the battle, and even the bravest man
hesitates before deliberately thrusting himself into a fight.
One morning Myles and Gascoyne and Wilkes sat under the shade of
two trees, between which was a board nailed to the trunks, making
a rude bench--always a favorite lounging-place for the lads in
idle moments. Myles was polishing his bascinet with lard and
wood-ashes, rubbing the metal with a piece of leather, and wiping
it clean with a fustian rag. The other two, who had just been
relieved from household duty, lay at length idly looking on.
Just then one of the smaller pages, a boy of twelve or thirteen,
by name Robin Ingoldsby, crossed the court. He had been crying;
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: From the pangs which an unseen destiny fastens upon us.
You are happy and merry. How then should a jest ever wound you?
But the slightest touch gives torture to those who are suff'ring.
Even dissimulation would nothing avail me at present.
Let me at once disclose what later would deepen my sorrow,
And consign me perchance to agony mute and consuming.
Let me depart forthwith! No more in this house dare I linger;
I must hence and away, and look once more for my poor friends
Whom I left in distress, when seeking to better my fortunes.
This is my firm resolve; and now I may properly tell you
That which had else been buried for many a year in my bosom.
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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 Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: agitation for Liberal reforms, made common cause with the
starving wage-working class, and resorted to armed rebellion,
which reached Dresden in 1849. Had Wagner been the mere musical
epicure and political mugwump that the term "artist" seems to
suggest to so many critics and amateurs--that is, a creature in
their own lazy likeness--he need have taken no more part in the
political struggles of his day than Bishop took in the English
Reform agitation of 1832, or Sterndale Bennett in the Chartist or
Free Trade movements. What he did do was first to make a
desperate appeal to the King to cast off his bonds and answer the
need of the time by taking true Kingship on himself and leading
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