| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Glasses by Henry James: so not only under the strictest orders from her oculist, but
because literally the poor thing can't accomplish without such help
half the business of life. Iffield however has suspected
something, and his suspicions, whether expressed or kept to
himself, have put him on the watch. I happened to have a glimpse
of the movement at which he pounced on her and caught her in the
act."
I had thought it all out; my idea explained many things, and
Dawling turned pale as he listened to me.
"Was he rough with her?" he anxiously asked.
"How can I tell what passed between them? I fled from the place."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: utter, the face of Ernest assumed a grandeur of expression, so
imbued with benevolence, that the poet, by an irresistible
impulse, threw his arms aloft and shouted,"Behold! Behold! Ernest
is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face!"
Then all the people looked, and saw that what the deep-sighted
poet said was true. The prophecy was fulfilled. But Ernest,
having finished what he had to say, took the poet's arm, and
walked slowly homeward, still hoping that some wiser and better
man than himself would by and by appear, bearing a resemblance to
the GREAT STONE FACE.
ETHAN BRAND
The Snow Image |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: -hold her fast--touch her with his hands--clasp her!
He laughed in the merry sunshine, and sang loud. Victory was very near.
Nevertheless, after a while the path grew steeper. He needed all his
breath for climbing, and the singing died away. On the right and left rose
huge rocks, devoid of lichen or moss, and in the lava-like earth chasms
yawned. Here and there he saw a sheen of white bones. Now too the path
began to grow less and less marked; then it became a mere trace, with a
footmark here and there; then it ceased altogether. He sang no more, but
struck forth a path for himself, until it reached a mighty wall of rock,
smooth and without break, stretching as far as the eye could see. "I will
rear a stair against it; and, once this wall climbed, I shall be almost
|
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 A Treatise on Parents and Children by George Bernard Shaw: few cinders when they are worrited.
Into the blackest depths of this violation of children's souls one can
hardly bear to look; for here we find pious fraud masking the
violation of the body by obscene cruelty. Any parent or school
teacher who takes a secret and abominable delight in torture is
allowed to lay traps into which every child must fall, and then beat
it to his or her heart's content. A gentleman once wrote to me and
said, with an obvious conviction that he was being most reasonable and
high minded, that the only thing he beat his children for was failure
in perfect obedience and perfect truthfulness. On these attributes,
he said, he must insist. As one of them is not a virtue at all, and
|
