| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: upon him, and as "the golden opes, the iron shuts amain."
We have got something out of the lines, I think, and much more is
yet to be found in them; but we have done enough by way of example
of the kind of word-by-word examination of your author which is
rightly called "reading;" watching every accent and expression, and
putting ourselves always in the author's place, annihilating our own
personality, and seeking to enter into his, so as to be able
assuredly to say, "Thus Milton thought," not "Thus I thought, in
misreading Milton." And by this process you will gradually come to
attach less weight to your own "Thus I thought" at other times. You
will begin to perceive that what YOU thought was a matter of no
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: SOCRATES: But do you not allow that some nouns are primitive, and some
derived?
CRATYLUS: Yes, I do.
SOCRATES: Then if you admit that primitive or first nouns are
representations of things, is there any better way of framing
representations than by assimilating them to the objects as much as you
can; or do you prefer the notion of Hermogenes and of many others, who say
that names are conventional, and have a meaning to those who have agreed
about them, and who have previous knowledge of the things intended by them,
and that convention is the only principle; and whether you abide by our
present convention, or make a new and opposite one, according to which you
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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 The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: me what true love may be--what it should be, and how far from
real love was my selfish and jealous passion for you.
"Now I am different. Now could I love as Dejah Thoris loves,
and so my only happiness can be to know that you and she are once
more united, for in her alone can you find true happiness.
"But I am unhappy because of the wickedness that I have wrought.
I have many sins to expiate, and though I be deathless, life is
all too short for the atonement.
The Warlord of Mars |
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 The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: "Very well; I see you understand your business. Go, and do not
return to me until you have created a feud between the three
brothers--or I will skin you alive."
The three small devils went to a swamp to consult as to the best
means of accomplishing their mission. They disputed for a long
time--each one wanting the easiest part of the work--and not
being able to agree, concluded to draw lots; by which it was
decided that the one who was first finished had to come and help
the others. This agreement being entered into, they appointed a
time when they were again to meet in the swamp--to find out who
was through and who needed assistance.
The Kreutzer Sonata |
