| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson: the last time."
"Yes," replied he, "I will shake hands; for, as sure as I am here,
I bear no malice. But, remember, if, by some impossible accident,
we should give the slip to these blackguards, I'll take the upper
hand of you by fair or foul."
"Oh," said I, "you weary me!"
He seemed hurt, and walked away in silence to the foot of the
stairs, where he paused.
"You do not understand," said he. "I am not a swindler, and I
guard myself; that is all. It may weary you or not, Mr. Cassilis,
I do not care a rush; I speak for my own satisfaction, and not for
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: beyond. So, first making sure that no one was looking that way,
and bidding the others keep a sharp lookout, Myles shinned up
this tree, and choosing one of the thicker limbs, climbed out
upon it for some little distance. Then lowering his body, he hung
at arm's-length, the branch bending with his weight, and slowly
let himself down hand under hand, until at last he hung directly
over the top of the wall, and perhaps a foot above it. Below him
he could see the leafy top of an arbor covered with a thick
growth of clematis, and even as he hung there he noticed the
broad smooth walks, the grassy terrace in front of the Countess's
apartments in the distance, the quaint flower-beds, the yew-trees
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The House of Dust by Conrad Aiken: Look at her eyes all red!
We know you--know your name and all about you,
All you remember and think, and all you scheme for.
We tear your secret out, we leave you, go
Laughingly down the street. . . .Die, if you want to!
Die, then, if you're in such a hurry to know!--
. . . .She falls. We lift her head. The wasted body
Weighs nothing in our hands. Does no one know her?
Was no one with her when she fell? . . .
We eddy about her, move away in silence.
We hear slow tollings of a bell.
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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 Menexenus by Plato: forth wheat and barley for human food, which is the best and noblest
sustenance for man, whom she regarded as her true offspring. And these are
truer proofs of motherhood in a country than in a woman, for the woman in
her conception and generation is but the imitation of the earth, and not
the earth of the woman. And of the fruit of the earth she gave a plenteous
supply, not only to her own, but to others also; and afterwards she made
the olive to spring up to be a boon to her children, and to help them in
their toils. And when she had herself nursed them and brought them up to
manhood, she gave them Gods to be their rulers and teachers, whose names
are well known, and need not now be repeated. They are the Gods who first
ordered our lives, and instructed us in the arts for the supply of our
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