| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: companion that feasts the company with wit and mirth, and leaves out
the sin which is usually mixed with them, he is the man, and indeed
such a companion should have his charges borne; and to such company
I hope to bring you this night; for at Trout-hall, not far from this place,
where I purpose to lodge to-night, there is usually an Angler that proves
good company. And let me tell you, good company and good discourse
are the very sinews of virtue. But for such discourse as we heard last
night, it infects others: the very boys will learn to talk and swear, as
they heard mine host, and another of the company that shall be
nameless. I am sorry the other is a gentleman, for less religion will not
save their souls than a beggar's: I think more will be required at the last
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson: the hedge and the ditch; he must run the hazard of his life
against a henroost; he must dislodge four rascally musketeers
out of a barn; he must prick out single from his party, as
necessity arises, and meet adventures alone."
Thus far Montaigne, in a characteristic essay on GLORY.
Where death is certain, as in the cases of Douglas or
Greenville, it seems all one from a personal point of view.
The man who lost his life against a henroost, is in the same
pickle with him who lost his life against a fortified place of
the first order. Whether he has missed a peerage or only the
corporal's stripes, it is all one if he has missed them and is
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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 Of The Nature of Things by Lucretius: They yet are formed of matter mixed with void:
In rocks and caves the watery moisture seeps,
And beady drops stand out like plenteous tears;
And food finds way through every frame that lives;
The trees increase and yield the season's fruit
Because their food throughout the whole is poured,
Even from the deepest roots, through trunks and boughs;
And voices pass the solid walls and fly
Reverberant through shut doorways of a house;
And stiffening frost seeps inward to our bones.
Which but for voids for bodies to go through
Of The Nature of Things |
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 Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: or drowned. And if they attempt to deny their deed, he will not
believe what they say, for they have brought him such grief and
shame that he would be disgraced were vengeance not to be exacted
from them; but he will be avenged without a doubt. The news of
this spread until it reached the Queen, who was sitting at meat.
She almost killed herself on hearing the false report about
Lancelot, but she supposes it to be true, and therefore she is in
such dismay that she almost loses the power to speak; but,
because of those present, she forces herself to say: "In truth, I
am sorry for his death, and it is no wonder that I grieve, for he
came into this country for my sake, and therefore I should mourn
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