| 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: signifies that it is ill done, or cannot be done. No true painter
ever speaks, or ever has spoken, much of his art. The greatest
speak nothing. Even Reynolds is no exception, for he wrote of all
that he could not himself do, and was utterly silent respecting all
that he himself did.
The moment a man can really do his work he becomes speechless about
it. All words become idle to him--all theories.
Does a bird need to theorize about building its nest, or boast of it
when built? All good work is essentially done that way--without
hesitation, without difficulty, without boasting; and in the doers
of the best, there is an inner and involuntary power which
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo: "You'd sure be a swell nigger wid dat on, Honey," she chuckled to
herself. "Wouldn't dem deacons holler if dey done see dat?"
The picture of the deacons' astonishment at such a spectacle so
grew upon Mandy, that she was obliged to cover her generous mouth
to shut in her convulsive laughter, lest it awaken the little
girl in the bed. She crossed to the old-fashioned bureau which
for many months had stood unused against the wall. The drawer
creaked as she opened it to lay away the gay, spangled gown.
"It'll be a mighty long time afore she puts on dem tings agin,"
she said, with a doubtful shake of her large, round head.
Then she went back to the chair and picked up Polly's sandals,
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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 On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: likely to endure long and to spread widely. For the area will first have
existed as a continent, and the inhabitants, at this period numerous in
individuals and kinds, will have been subjected to very severe competition.
When converted by subsidence into large separate islands, there will still
exist many individuals of the same species on each island: intercrossing
on the confines of the range of each species will thus be checked: after
physical changes of any kind, immigration will be prevented, so that new
places in the polity of each island will have to be filled up by
modifications of the old inhabitants; and time will be allowed for the
varieties in each to become well modified and perfected. When, by renewed
elevation, the islands shall be re-converted into a continental area, there
On the Origin of Species |
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 Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: do it."
In the search which followed, the man of the
cheery voice seemed to the youth to possess a
wand of a magic kind. He threaded the mazes
of the tangled forest with a strange fortune. In
encounters with guards and patrols he displayed
the keenness of a detective and the valor of a
gamin. Obstacles fell before him and became of
assistance. The youth, with his chin still on his
breast, stood woodenly by while his companion
beat ways and means out of sullen things.
The Red Badge of Courage |
