| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx: monarchies--the Restoration and the July Monarchy--with an imperial
label; unions, whose first clause is disunion; struggles, whose first
law is in-decision; in the name of peace, barren and hollow agitation;
in the name of the revolution, solemn sermonizings on peace; passions
without truth; truths without passion; heroes without heroism; history
without events; development, whose only moving force seems to be the
calendar, and tiresome by the constant reiteration of the same tensions
and relaxes; contrasts, that seem to intensify themselves periodically,
only in order to wear themselves off and collapse without a solution;
pretentious efforts made for show, and bourgeois frights at the danger
of the destruction of the world, simultaneous with the carrying on of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: desk. "No; wait a minute! Let me look at you. Now, Ella,
don't try to tell me that THAT dress came from Des Moines, Iowa!
Do I! Why, child, it's distinctive!"
Miss Sweeney, still standing, smiled a pleased but rather
preoccupied smile. Her eyes roved toward the door.
Emma McChesney, radiating good will and energy, went on:
"Wait till you see our new samples! You'll buy a million
dollars' worth. Just let me lead you to our new Walk-Easy
bifurcated skirt. We call it the `one-stepper's delight.' "
She put a hand on Ella Sweeney's arm, preparatory to guiding her
to the showrooms in the rear. But Miss Sweeney's strange
Emma McChesney & Co. |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Man against the Sky by Edwin Arlington Robinson: O no, not now! He'll not be going now:
There'll be time yet for God knows what explosions
Before he goes. He'll stay awhile. Just wait:
Just wait a year or two for Cleopatra,
For she's to be a balsam and a comfort;
And that's not all a jape of mine now, either.
For granted once the old way of Apollo
Sings in a man, he may then, if he's able,
Strike unafraid whatever strings he will
Upon the last and wildest of new lyres;
Nor out of his new magic, though it hymn
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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 In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: stomach, squeezing it dry. She was terribly hungry--all Casimir's fault--
and that man had lived on the fat of the land ever since he was born. He
looked as though he could order a magnificent dinner. Oh, why hadn't she
played her cards better?--he'd been sent by Providence--and she'd snubbed
him. "If I had that time over again, I'd be safe by now." And instead of
the ordinary man who had spoken with her at the door her mind created a
brilliant, laughing image, who would treat her like a queen..."There's only
one thing I could not stand--that he should be coarse or vulgar. Well, he
wasn't--he was obviously a man of the world, and the way he apologised...I
have enough faith in my own power and beauty to know I could make a man
treat me just as I wanted to be treated."...It floated into her dreams--
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