| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice,
Are like to those of Uther whom we knew.
This is the son of Gorlos, not the King;
This is the son of Anton, not the King.'
And Arthur, passing thence to battle, felt
Travail, and throes and agonies of the life,
Desiring to be joined with Guinevere;
And thinking as he rode, `Her father said
That there between the man and beast they die.
Shall I not lift her from this land of beasts
Up to my throne, and side by side with me?
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: blood-vessel or to be struck by lightning, not merely in ten
minutes, but in ten seconds; and that has not prevented us from
eating dinner, no, nor from putting money in the Savings Bank. I
assure you, with my hand on my heart, I fail to comprehend your
attitude."
The men were already too far gone to pay much heed.
"This is a very painful sight, Mr. Spoker," said the Captain.
"And yet to the philosophic eye, or whatever it is," replied the
first lieutenant, "they may be said to have been getting drunk
since they came aboard."
"I do not know if you always follow my thought, Mr. Spoker,"
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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 Walking by Henry David Thoreau: heavens of America appear infinitely higher, and the stars
brighter, I trust that these facts are symbolical of the height
to which the philosophy and poetry and religion of her
inhabitants may one day soar. At length, perchance, the
immaterial heaven will appear as much higher to the American
mind, and the intimations that star it as much brighter. For I
believe that climate does thus react on man--as there is
something in the mountain air that feeds the spirit and inspires.
Will not man grow to greater perfection intellectually as well as
physically under these influences? Or is it unimportant how many
foggy days there are in his life? I trust that we shall be more
Walking |
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 My Antonia by Willa Cather: and he fell ill with malaria. He came to Nebraska
to visit his cousin, Anton Jelinek, and to look about.
When he began to look about, he saw Antonia, and she was
exactly the kind of girl he had always been hunting for.
They were married at once, though he had to borrow money
from his cousin to buy the wedding ring.
`It was a pretty hard job, breaking up this place and making
the first crops grow,' he said, pushing back his hat and scratching
his grizzled hair. `Sometimes I git awful sore on this place and want
to quit, but my wife she always say we better stick it out. The babies
come along pretty fast, so it look like it be hard to move, anyhow.
My Antonia |
