| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: blest him, and then looked earnestly upon him, and said -
'Who are you, fair youth, and wherefore travel you this
doleful road?'
'Who I am my parents know; but I travel this doleful road
because I have been invited by a hospitable man, who promises
to feast me, and to make me sleep upon I know not what
wondrous bed.'
Then the old man clapped his hands together and cried -
'O house of Hades, man-devouring! will thy maw never be full?
Know, fair youth, that you are going to torment and to death,
for he who met you (I will requite your kindness by another)
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence: wax figure. When he had to deal with them, Clifford was rather haughty
and contemptuous; one could no longer afford to be friendly. In fact he
was altogether rather supercilious and contemptuous of anyone not in
his own class. He stood his ground, without any attempt at
conciliation. And he was neither liked nor disliked by the people: he
was just part of things, like the pit-bank and Wragby itself.
But Clifford was really extremely shy and self-conscious now he was
lamed. He hated seeing anyone except just the personal servants. For he
had to sit in a wheeled chair or a sort of bath-chair. Nevertheless he
was just as carefully dressed as ever, by his expensive tailors, and he
wore the careful Bond Street neckties just as before, and from the top
Lady Chatterley's Lover |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: goods, whether of body or mind, must be under the direction of knowledge.
Upon the assumption just made, then, virtue is teachable. But where are
the teachers? There are none to be found. This is extremely discouraging.
Virtue is no sooner discovered to be teachable, than the discovery follows
that it is not taught. Virtue, therefore, is and is not teachable.
In this dilemma an appeal is made to Anytus, a respectable and well-to-do
citizen of the old school, and a family friend of Meno, who happens to be
present. He is asked 'whether Meno shall go to the Sophists and be
taught.' The suggestion throws him into a rage. 'To whom, then, shall
Meno go?' asks Socrates. To any Athenian gentleman--to the great Athenian
statesmen of past times. Socrates replies here, as elsewhere (Laches,
|
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 Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: student of the Italian Renaissance. He has lived for years in
Italy, exploring its remotest corners, and has lately picked up
an undoubted Leonardo, which came to light in a farmhouse near
Bergamo. It is believed to be one of the missing pictures
mentioned by Vasari, and is at any rate, according to the most
competent authorities, a genuine and almost untouched example of
the best period.
"Lombard is a queer stick, and jealous of showing his treasures;
but we struck up a friendship when I was working on the Sodomas
in Siena three years ago, and if you will give him the enclosed
line you may get a peep at the Leonardo. Probably not more than
|
