The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: thou one also, for ne'er should a man be merry alone, or sing
and list not."
"Then I will sing thee a song of a right good knight of Arthur's court,
and how he cured his heart's wound without running upon the dart again, as did
thy Phillis; for I wot she did but cure one smart by giving herself another.
So, list thou while I sing:
THE GOOD KNIGHT AND HIS LOVE
"_When Arthur, King, did rule this land,
A goodly king was he,
And had he of stout knights a band
Of merry company.
 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
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 Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: work, her success, her clean reputation, her life of self-denial
for her son Jock. When Ethel Morrissey was planned by her Maker,
she had not been meant to be wasted on the skirt-and-suit
department of a small-town store. That broad, gracious breast
had been planned as a resting-place for heads in need of comfort.
Those plump, firm arms were meant to enfold the weak and
distressed. Those capable hands should have smoothed troubled
heads and patted plump cheeks, instead of wasting their gifts in
folding piles of petticoats and deftly twitching a plait or a
tuck into place. She was playing Rosalind in buskins when she
should have been cast for the Nurse.
 Emma McChesney & Co. |