| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Chita: A Memory of Last Island by Lafcadio Hearn: chiefly as a bathing-resort. Since the war the ocean reclaimed
its own;--the cane-fields have degenerated into sandy plains,
over which tramways wind to the smooth beach;--the
plantation-residences have been converted into rustic hotels, and
the negro-quarters remodelled into villages of cozy cottages for
the reception of guests. But with its imposing groves of oak,
its golden wealth of orange-trees, its odorous lanes of oleander.
its broad grazing-meadows yellow-starred with wild camomile,
Grande Isle remains the prettiest island of the Gulf; and its
loveliness is exceptional. For the bleakness of Grand Terre is
reiterated by most of the other islands,--Caillou, Cassetete,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from What is Man? by Mark Twain: listen to and bathe his spirit in, and the bewildering beautiful
scenery to intoxicate his eyes with, and the dumb acting couldn't
mar these pleasures, because there isn't often anything in the
Wagner opera that one would call by such a violent name as
acting; as a rule all you would see would be a couple of silent
people, one of them standing still, the other catching flies. Of
course I do not really mean that he would be catching flies; I
only mean that the usual operatic gestures which consist in
reaching first one hand out into the air and then the other might
suggest the sport I speak of if the operator attended strictly to
business and uttered no sound.
What is Man? |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: MSS. written by Hugo de Paganis (a mythic hero who often figures in
these fables); that their treasure was in only three places in the
world, in Ballenstadt, in the icy mountains of Savoy, and in China;
that whosoever drew on himself the displeasure of the Order,
perished both body and soul; who degraded his rival Rosa to the
sound of military music, and after having had, like every dog, his
day, died in prison in the Wartburg;--of the Rosicrucians, who were
accused of wanting to support and advance the Catholic religion--one
would think the accusation was very unnecessary, seeing that their
actual dealings were with the philosopher's stone, and the exorcism
of spirits: and that the first apostle of the new golden
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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 Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: Wednesday Evening
On Monday we came to our HOME, preferring it to the hotel, though it
is not yet in order for our reception, and we have not yet all our
servants. Last evening we dined with Lord Morpeth at his father's
house. His family are all out of town, but he remains because of
his ministerial duties. Lord Morpeth took me out and I sat between
him and Sir George Grey. Your father took out Lady Theresa Lewis,
who is a sister of Lord Clarendon. She was full of intelligence and
I like her extremely. Baron and Lady Parke (a distinguished judge),
Lady Morgan, Mr. Mackintosh, Dr. and Mrs. Holland (Sidney Smith's
daughter), and Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Dexter, with several others
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