| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: not time for writing much, but it would be out of place
if I had, for this is to be a mere letter of business,
penned for the purpose of conveying necessary information,
which could not be delayed without risk of evil. My dear,
dear Fanny, if I had you here, how I would talk to you!
You should listen to me till you were tired, and advise
me till you were still tired more; but it is impossible
to put a hundredth part of my great mind on paper,
so I will abstain altogether, and leave you to guess what
you like. I have no news for you. You have politics,
of course; and it would be too bad to plague you with
Mansfield Park |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Treatise on Parents and Children by George Bernard Shaw: church music is the only music, and that music is made by a few
well-intentioned ladies with the help of a harmonium, can hear masses
by Palestrina very passably executed, and can thereby be led to the
discovery that Jackson in F and Hymns Ancient and Modern are not
perhaps the last word of beauty and propriety in the praise of God.
In short, there is a vast body of art now within the reach of
everybody. The difficulty is that this art, which alone can educate
us in grace of body and soul, and which alone can make the history of
the past live for us or the hope of the future shine for us, which
alone can give delicacy and nobility to our crude lusts, which is the
appointed vehicle of inspiration and the method of the communion of
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The First Men In The Moon by H. G. Wells: among the bushes.
"We've got to be careful," he said. "This moon has no discipline. She'll
let us smash ourselves."
He helped me to my feet. "You exerted yourself too much," he said, dabbing
at the yellow stuff with his hand to remove it from my garments.
I stood passive and panting, allowing him to beat off the jelly from my
knees and elbows and lecture me upon my misfortunes. " We don't quite
allow for the gravitation. Our muscles are scarcely educated yet. We must
practise a little, when you have got your breath."
I pulled two or three little thorns out of my hand, and sat for a time on
a boulder of rock. My muscles were quivering, and I had that feeling of
The First Men In The Moon |
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 Mansion by Henry van Dyke: not?
God rules the sea; but He expects us to follow the laws of
navigation and commerce. Why not take good care of your bread,
even when you give it away?"
"It's not for me to say why not--and yet I can think of cases--"
The young man hesitated for a moment. His half-finished cigar
had
gone out. He rose and tossed it into the fire, in front of which
he remained standing--a slender, eager, restless young figure,
with a touch of hunger in the fine face, strangely like and
unlike
|
