| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: floor--
And this, and so much more?--
It is impossible to say just what I mean I
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
"That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all."
* * * *
No I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Prufrock/Other Observations |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Passionate Pilgrim by William Shakespeare: Her lips to mine how often hath she joined,
Between each kiss her oaths of true love swearing!
How many tales to please me bath she coined,
Dreading my love, the loss thereof still fearing!
Yet in the midst of all her pure protestings,
Her faith, her oaths, her tears, and all were jestings.
She burn'd with love, as straw with fire flameth;
She burn'd out love, as soon as straw outburneth;
She framed the love, and yet she foil'd the framing;
She bade love last, and yet she fell a-turning.
Was this a lover, or a lecher whether?
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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 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: had felt it his duty to mention the fact to Mr. Otis when they came
to discuss terms.
'We have not cared to live in the place ourselves,' said Lord
Canterville, 'since my grandaunt, the Dowager Duchess of Bolton,
was frightened into a fit, from which she never really recovered,
by two skeleton hands being placed on her shoulders as she was
dressing for dinner, and I feel bound to tell you, Mr. Otis, that
the ghost has been seen by several living members of my family, as
well as by the rector of the parish, the Rev. Augustus Dampier, who
is a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. After the unfortunate
accident to the Duchess, none of our younger servants would stay
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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 Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: West, where an evening was hurried from phase to phase toward its
close, in a continually disappointed anticipation or else in sheer
nervous dread of the moment itself.
"You make me feel uncivilized, Daisy," I confessed on my second glass
of corky but rather impressive claret. "Can't you talk about crops or
something?"
I meant nothing in particular by this remark, but it was taken up in an
unexpected way.
"Civilization's going to pieces," broke out Tom violently.
"I've gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read
'The Rise of the Colored Empires' by this man Goddard?"
The Great Gatsby |
