| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: the other a high and thick tuft of trees cut off the view;
between was the mouth of the huge laver. Twice a day the ocean
crowded in that narrow entrance and was heaped between these
frail walls; twice a day, with the return of the ebb, the mighty
surplusage of water must struggle to escape. The hour in which
the Farallone came there was the hour of flood. The sea turned
(as with the instinct of the homing pigeon) for the vast
receptacle, swept eddying through the gates, was transmuted, as
it did so, into a wonder of watery and silken hues, and brimmed
into the inland sea beyond. The schooner looked up close-hauled,
and was caught and carried away by the influx like a toy. She
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moby Dick by Herman Melville: to him only sly, good-natured hits, and jolly punches in the side
bestowed by the unseen and unaccountable old joker. That odd sort of
wayward mood I am speaking of, comes over a man only in some time of
extreme tribulation; it comes in the very midst of his earnestness,
so that what just before might have seemed to him a thing most
momentous, now seems but a part of the general joke. There is
nothing like the perils of whaling to breed this free and easy sort
of genial, desperado philosophy; and with it I now regarded this
whole voyage of the Pequod, and the great White Whale its object.
"Queequeg," said I, when they had dragged me, the last man, to the
deck, and I was still shaking myself in my jacket to fling off the
Moby Dick |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare: Be bold to play, our sport is not in sight: 124
These blue-vein'd violets whereon we lean
Never can blab, nor know not what we mean.
'The tender spring upon thy tempting lip 127
Shows thee unripe, yet mayst thou well be tasted:
Make use of time, let not advantage slip;
Beauty within itself should not be wasted:
Fair flowers that are not gather'd in their prime
Rot and consume themselves in little time. 132
'Were I hard-favour'd, foul, or wrinkled-old,
Ill-nurtur'd, crooked, churlish, harsh in voice,
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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 Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: our lives, and may God bless him and keep him in safety in
his wild and savage jungle!"
"Amen," said Clayton, fervently.
"For the good Lord's sake, ain't I dead?"
The two turned to see Esmeralda sitting upright upon the
floor, her great eyes rolling from side to side as though she
could not believe their testimony as to her whereabouts.
And now, for Jane Porter, the reaction came, and she threw
herself upon the bench, sobbing with hysterical laughter.
Chapter 16
"Most Remarkable"
Tarzan of the Apes |
