| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Walking by Henry David Thoreau: thunder is louder, the lightning is vivider, the wind is
stronger, the rain is heavier, the mountains are higher, the
rivers longer, the forests bigger, the plains broader." This
statement will do at least to set against Buffon's account of
this part of the world and its productions.
Linnaeus said long ago, "Nescio quae facies laeta, glabra plantis
Americanis" (I know not what there is of joyous and smooth in the
aspect of American plants); and I think that in this country
there are no, or at most very few, Africanae bestiae, African
beasts, as the Romans called them, and that in this respect also
it is peculiarly fitted for the habitation of man. We are told
Walking |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: first bathed him after the moving of the water, was made whole of
what manner of sickness that he had. And there our Lord healed a
man of the palsy that lay thirty-eight year, and our Lord said to
him, TOLLE GRABATUM TUUM ET AMBULA, that is to say, 'Take thy bed
and go.' And there beside was Pilate's house.
And fast by is King Herod's house, that let slay the innocents.
This Herod was over-much cursed and cruel. For first he let slay
his wife that he loved right well; and for the passing love that he
had to her when he saw her dead, he fell in a rage and out of his
wit a great while; and sithen he came again to his wit. And after
he let slay his two sons that he had of that wife. And after that
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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 Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: male and female. One evening the Frenchman noticed that they were
laughing at him in the wings. It is hard to say what violent measures
he might have resorted to, had not La Zambinella come on the stage.
She cast at Sarrasine one of those eloquent glances which often say
more than women intend. That glance was a complete revelation in
itself. Sarrasine was beloved!
" 'If it is a mere caprice,' he thought, already accusing his mistress
of too great ardor, 'she does not know the sort of domination to which
she is about to become subject. Her caprice will last, I trust, as
long as my life.'
"At that moment, three light taps on the door of his box attracted the
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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 Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: of this encounter. And so she held in accents almost tearful that
something must be done to save him.
This, too, appeared to be Richard's own view, when presently - within
a few minutes of Blake's departure - he came to join them. They watched
his approach in silence, and both noted - though with different eyes and
different feelings - the pallor of his fair face, the dark lines under
his colourless eyes. His condition was abject, and his manners, never of
the best - for there was much of the spoiled child about Richard - were
clearly suffering from it.
He stood before his sister and his cousin, moving his eyes shiftily from
one to the other, rubbing his hands nervously together.
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