| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw: me. They revile me as lacking in passion, in feeling, in
manhood. Some of them even sum the matter up by denying me any
dramatic power: a melancholy betrayal of what dramatic power has
come to mean on our stage under the Censorship! Can I be
expected to refrain from laughing at the spectacle of a number of
respectable gentlemen lamenting because a playwright lures them
to the theatre by a promise to excite their senses in a very
special and sensational manner, and then, having successfully
trapped them in exceptional numbers, proceeds to ignore their
senses and ruthlessly improve their minds? But I protest again
that the lure was not mine. The play had been in print for four
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: honeycomb reside? Where would its shape? its weight? Where do you
think these properties reside?
Ten questions, and no Epicharmos of Kos. But no examination paper asks
everything, and this one did ask a good deal. Bertie and Billy wrote
the full time allotted, and found that they could have filled an hour
more without coming to the end of their thoughts. Comparing notes at
lunch, their information was discovered to have been lacking here and
there. Nevertheless, it was no failure; their inner convictions were
sure of fifty per cent at least, and this was all they asked of the
gods. "I was ripping about the ego," said Bertie. "I was rather
splendid myself," said Billy, "when I got going. And I gave him a huge
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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 Statesman by Plato: other blessings, which belonged to that dispensation. The reason why the
life of man was, as tradition says, spontaneous, is as follows: In those
days God himself was their shepherd, and ruled over them, just as man, who
is by comparison a divine being, still rules over the lower animals. Under
him there were no forms of government or separate possession of women and
children; for all men rose again from the earth, having no memory of the
past. And although they had nothing of this sort, the earth gave them
fruits in abundance, which grew on trees and shrubs unbidden, and were not
planted by the hand of man. And they dwelt naked, and mostly in the open
air, for the temperature of their seasons was mild; and they had no beds,
but lay on soft couches of grass, which grew plentifully out of the earth.
Statesman |
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 Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: requisite to submit.
Having remounted the ascent, they made the result of their exploration known
to the mass of the community, who received the tidings with a sense of relief,
and cordially accepted the scheme of the migration.
The first step was to clear the cavern of its accumulation of ashes,
and then the labor of removal commenced in earnest. Never was a task
undertaken with greater zest. The fear of being to a certainty frozen
to death if they remained where they were, was a stimulus that made
everyone put forth all his energies. Beds, furniture, cooking utensils--
first the stores of the _Dobryna_, then the cargo of the tartan--
all were carried down with the greatest alacrity, and the diminished
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