| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: often have I made inquiries concerning thee, and listened to the story of
thy deeds! The youth is the hope of the boy, the man of the youth. Thus
didst thou walk before me, ever before me; I saw thee without envy, and
followed after, step by step; at length I hoped to see thee--I saw thee, and
my heart flew to thy embrace. I had destined thee for myself, and when I
beheld thee, I made choice of thee anew. I hoped now to know thee, to live
with thee, to be thy friend,--thy--'tis over now and I see thee here!
Egmont. My friend, if it can be any comfort to thee, be assured that the
very moment we met my heart was drawn towards thee. Now listen! Let
us exchange a few quiet words. Tell me: is it the stern, the settled purpose
of thy father to take my life?
Egmont |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Woman and Labour by Olive Schreiner: absolutely naked and defenceless in some desert, and cut off hopelessly
from all external civilised life, undoubtedly very much the old division of
labour would, at least for a time, reassert itself; men would look about
for stones and sticks with which to make weapons to repel wild beasts and
enemies, and would go a-hunting meat and fighting savage enemies and tend
the beasts when tamed: (The young captured animals would probably be tamed
and reared by the women.) women would suckle their children, cook the meat
men brought, build shelters, look for roots and if possible cultivate them;
there certainly would be no parasite in the society; the woman who refused
to labour for her offspring, and the man who refused to hunt or defend
society, would not be supported by their fellows, would soon be
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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 St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: the little trick of family resemblance might come in. How, for
instance, if you were to call yourself his brother?'
'It might be done,' said I. 'But look here a moment? You propose
to me a very difficult game: I have apparently a devil of an
opponent in my cousin; and, being a prisoner of war, I can scarcely
be said to hold good cards. For what stakes, then, am I playing?'
'They are very large,' said he. 'Your great-uncle is immensely
rich - immensely rich. He was wise in time; he smelt the
revolution long before; sold all that he could, and had all that
was movable transported to England through my firm. There are
considerable estates in England; Amersham Place itself is very
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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 Adam Bede by George Eliot: expected in such a meeting with Hetty; and full as he was of vague
feeling, there was room, in those moments of silence, for the
thought that his previous debates and scruples were needless.
"You are quite right to choose this way of coming to the Chase,"
he said at last, looking down at Hetty; "it is so much prettier as
well as shorter than coming by either of the lodges."
"Yes, sir," Hetty answered, with a tremulous, almost whispering
voice. She didn't know one bit how to speak to a gentleman like
Mr. Arthur, and her very vanity made her more coy of speech.
"Do you come every week to see Mrs. Pomfret?"
"Yes, sir, every Thursday, only when she's got to go out with Miss
Adam Bede |
