| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: last charge. Remember the fate of our race, and quit not the
ancient manners of the Children of the Mist. We are now a
straggling handful, driven from every vale by the sword of every
clan, who rule in the possessions where their forefathers hewed
the wood, and drew the water for ours. But in the thicket of the
wilderness, and in the mist of the mountain, Kenneth, son of
Eracht, keep thou unsoiled the freedom which I leave thee as a
birthright. Barter it not neither for the rich garment, nor for
the stone-roof, nor for the covered board, nor for the couch of
down--on the rock or in the valley, in abundance or in famine--in
the leafy summer, and in the days of the iron winter--Son of the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The New Machiavelli by H. G. Wells: house when he came home tired. So such calling as occurred went on
during his absence in the afternoon.
One of the peculiarities of the life of these ascendant families of
the industrial class to which wealth has come, is its tremendous
insulations. There were no customs of intercourse in the Five
Towns. All the isolated prosperities of the district sprang from
economising, hard driven homes, in which there was neither time nor
means for hospitality. Social intercourse centred very largely upon
the church or chapel, and the chapels were better at bringing people
together than the Establishment to which my cousins belonged. Their
chief outlet to the wider world lay therefore through the
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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 Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine and Mucedorus by William Shakespeare: So he shall, I warrant him; but do you hear, master
King, he is kin to a monkey, his neck is bigger than
his head.
SEGASTO.
Come, sirra, away with him, and hang him about the
middle.
MOUSE.
Yes, forsooth, I warrant you: come on, sir. A, so like
a sheep biter a looks!
[Enter Amadine and a boy with a bear's head.]
AMADINE.
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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 Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll: "I prescribe Ozone, quant. suff. Social dissipation, fiant pilulae
quam plurimae: to be taken, feasting, three times a day!"
"But, Doctor!" I remonstrated. "Society doesn't 'receive' three times a
day!"
"That's all you know about it!" the young Doctor gaily replied.
"At home, lawn-tennis, 3 P.M. At home, kettledrum, 5 P.M.
At home, music (Elveston doesn't give dinners), 8 P.M. Carriages at 10.
There you are!"
It sounded very pleasant, I was obliged to admit. "And I know some of
the lady-society already," I added. "One of them came in the same
carriage with me"
Sylvie and Bruno |
