| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: "Er- yes," said I. "She's tired, you know. And you'd better
not let her see you. She'll be awfully angry to think you got up
for us. You know what she said."
Thomas laughed respectfully. I passed up the stairs, and he
followed. "I'll only open the door and see that the fire's all
right, sir," he said. I placed my burden gently on the sofa,
away from the light of the fire.
"You'll let me light the candles, sir?"
"Not a farthing dip, Thomas. Miss Mansel may wake any moment.
You can come and open the coach-house door, if you like."
"Very good, sir."
The Brother of Daphne |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: on Jim and Bella, and disinherit them, and cast them out,
figuratively, with the flaming sword of her tongue. BUT SHE DID
NOT!
She turned on me in the most terrible way, and asked me how I
dared to come between husband and wife, because divorce or no
divorce, whom God hath joined together, and so on. And when Jim
picked up his courage in both hands and tried to interfere, she
pushed him back with one hand while she pointed the other at me
and called me a Jezebel.
Chapter XIX. THE HARBISON MAN
She talked for an hour, having got between me and the door, and
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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 Rinkitink In Oz by L. Frank Baum: great storm began to rage. Prince Inga and King
Rinkitink took refuge within the shelter of the room
they had fitted up and there Bilbil joined them. The
goat and the King were somewhat disturbed by the
violence of the storm, but Inga did not mind it, being
pleased at this evidence that the White Pearl might be
relied upon.
All night the wind shrieked around the island;
thunder rolled, lightning flashed and rain came down in
torrents. But with morning the storm abated and when
the sun arose no sign of the tempest remained save a
Rinkitink In Oz |
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 Ion by Plato: the bad. And poetry is a whole; and he who judges of poetry by rules of
art ought to be able to judge of all poetry.' This is confirmed by the
analogy of sculpture, painting, flute-playing, and the other arts. The
argument is at last brought home to the mind of Ion, who asks how this
contradiction is to be solved. The solution given by Socrates is as
follows:--
The rhapsode is not guided by rules of art, but is an inspired person who
derives a mysterious power from the poet; and the poet, in like manner, is
inspired by the God. The poets and their interpreters may be compared to a
chain of magnetic rings suspended from one another, and from a magnet. The
magnet is the Muse, and the ring which immediately follows is the poet
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