| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: And he took the lad by the arm, as they stood by the side of the track,
And smiled, and rallied, and flattered, and pushed him forward and back.
It was "You that sing like a bird, I never have heard you sing,"
And "The lads when I was a lad were none so feared of a king.
And of what account is an hour, when the heart is empty of guile?
But come, and sit in the house and laugh with the women awhile;
And I will but drop my hook, and behold! the dinner made."
So Tamatea the pliable hung up his fish in the shade
On a tree by the side of the way; and Rahero carried him in,
Smiling as smiles the fowler when flutters the bird to the gin,
And chose him a shining hook, (5) and viewed it with sedulous eye,
Ballads |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Underground City by Jules Verne: the mind of this strange girl. Either Nell could not or would
not reply to questions, but that some secret
existed in connection with the place, which she could
have explained, was manifest.
"Should you like to stay with us? Should you like to go back
to where we found you?" asked James Starr.
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed the maiden, in answer to his first question;
but a cry of terror was all she seemed able to say to the second.
James Starr, as well as Simon and Harry Ford, could not help feeling
a certain amount of uneasiness with regard to this persistent silence.
They found it impossible to forget all that had appeared so inexplicable
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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 Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: errant-knight. And stay! Every knight must have a lady to serve.
How wouldst thou like my Cousin Alice here for thy true lady?"
"Aye," said Myles, eagerly, "I would like it right well." And
then he blushed fiery red at his boldness.
"I want no errant-knight to serve me," said the Lady Alice,
blushing, in answer. "Thou dost ill tease me, coz! An thou art so
free in choosing him a lady to serve, thou mayst choose him
thyself for thy pains."
"Nay," said the Lady Anne, laughing; "I say thou shalt be his
true lady, and he shall be thy true knight. Who knows? Perchance
he may serven thee in some wondrous adventure, like as Chaucer
Men of Iron |
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 Golden Threshold by Sarojini Naidu: The gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit;
O giver of mellowing radiance, we hail thee,
We praise thee, O Surya, with cymbal and flute.
Lord of the rainbow, lord of the harvest,
Great and beneficent lord of the main!
Thine is the mercy that cherished our furrows,
Thine is the mercy that fostered our grain.
We bring thee our thanks and our garlands for tribute,
The wealth of our valleys, new-garnered and ripe;
O sender of rain and the dewfall, we hail thee,
We praise thee, Varuna, with cymbal and pipe.
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