| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: SALOME. C'est de ma mere qu'il parle.
LE JEUNE SYRIEN. Mais non, princesse.
SALOME. Si, c'est de ma mere.
IOKANAAN. Ou est celle qui s'est abandonnee aux capitaines des
Assyriens, qui ont des baudriers sur les reins, et sur la tete des
tiares de differentes couleurs? Ou est celle qui s'est abandonnee
aux jeunes hommes d'Egypte qui sont vetus de lin et d'hyacinthe, et
portent des boucliers d'or et des casques d'argent, et qui ont de
grand corps? Dites-lui de se lever de la couche de son impudicite,
de sa couche incestueuse, afin qu'elle puisse entendre les paroles
de celui qui prepare la voie du Seigneur; afin qu'elle se repente de
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: He fumed about the room, his anger gradually rising to the
furious pitch.
"I'll kill deh jay! Dat's what I'll do! I'll kill deh jay!"
He clutched his hat and sprang toward the door. But it opened
and his mother's great form blocked the passage.
"What deh hell's deh matter wid yeh?" exclaimed she, coming
into the rooms.
Jimmie gave vent to a sardonic curse and then laughed heavily.
"Well, Maggie's gone teh deh devil! Dat's what! See?"
"Eh?" said his mother.
"Maggie's gone teh deh devil! Are yehs deaf?" roared Jimmie,
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: ent cruising. I would make land by myself. I would
beat the other boats. Youth! All youth! The silly,
charming, beautiful youth.
"But we did not make a start at once. We must see
the last of the ship. And so the boats drifted about that
night, heaving and setting on the swell. The men dozed,
waked, sighed, groaned. I looked at the burning ship.
"Between the darkness of earth and heaven she was
burning fiercely upon a disc of purple sea shot by the
blood-red play of gleams; upon a disc of water glitter-
ing and sinister. A high, clear flame, an immense and
Youth |
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 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: Half an hour after, guided by the electric light we reached the Nautilus.
The outside door had been left open, and Captain Nemo closed it
as soon as we had entered the first cell. He then pressed a knob.
I heard the pumps working in the midst of the vessel, I felt the water
sinking from around me, and in a few moments the cell was entirely empty.
The inside door then opened, and we entered the vestry.
There our diving-dress was taken off, not without some trouble, and,
fairly worn out from want of food and sleep, I returned to my room,
in great wonder at this surprising excursion at the bottom of the sea.
CHAPTER XVII
FOUR THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE PACIFIC
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
