| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Woman and Labour by Olive Schreiner: nature, to the invention of machinery, and to that delicate manipulative
skill often required in guiding it, becomes ever of greater and greater
importance to the race. Already today we tremble on the verge of a
discovery, which may come tomorrow or the next day, when, through the
attainment of a simple and cheap method of controlling some widely
diffused, everywhere accessible, natural force (such, for instance, as the
force of the great tidal wave) there will at once and for ever pass away
even that comparatively small value which still, in our present stage of
material civilisation, clings to the expenditure of mere crude, mechanical,
human energy; and the creature, however physically powerful, who can merely
pull, push, and lift, much after the manner of a machine, will have no
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On Revenues by Xenophon: [2] Lit. "the cities," i.e. of the alliance, {tas summakhidas}.
I had no sooner begun my investigation than one fact presented itself
clearly to my mind, which is that the country itself is made by nature
to provide the amplest resources. And with a view to establishing the
truth of this initial proposition I will describe the physical
features of Attica.
In the first place, the extraordinary mildness of the climate is
proved by the actual products of the soil. Numerous plants which in
many parts of the world appear as stunted leafless growths are here
fruit-bearing. And as with the soil so with the sea indenting our
coasts, the varied productivity of which is exceptionally great. Again
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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 Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: valor and confidence of unconquered legions.
The shrilling voices of the people at home would
pipe dismally for a time, but various generals
were usually compelled to listen to these ditties.
He of course felt no compunctions for proposing
a general as a sacrifice. He could not tell who
the chosen for the barbs might be, so he could
center no direct sympathy upon him. The
people were afar and he did not conceive public
opinion to be accurate at long range. It was
quite probable they would hit the wrong man
The Red Badge of Courage |
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 Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: sneers to himself at the mention of the engineer; and, close
by, the gunner, who had applied the match, passes away with a
smile of triumph, since it was through his hand that the
victorious blow had been dealt. Meanwhile, the cannon claims
the honour over the gunner; the cannon-ball, who actually
goes forth on the dread mission, claims it over the cannon,
who remains idly behind; the powder reminds the cannon-ball
that, but for him, it would still be lying on the arsenal
floor; and the match caps the discussion; powder, cannon-
ball, and cannon would be all equally vain and ineffectual
without fire. Just then there comes on a shower of rain,
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