| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: the 'longshore' or 'dory' fisherman, who returns at nightfall.
253. _V._ Goldsmith, the song in _The Vicar ofWakefield_.
257. _V. The Tempest_, as above.
264. The interior of St. Magnus Martyr is to my mind one of
the finest among Wren's interiors. See _The Pro-posed Demolition
of Nineteen City Churches_ (P. S. King & Son, Ltd.).
266. The Song of the (three) Thames-daughters begins here.
From line 202 to 306 inclusive they speak in turn.
_V. Gotterdammerung_, III. i: the Rhine-daughters.
279. _V._ Froude, ELIZABETH, vol. I, ch. iv, letter of De Quadra
to Philip of Spain:
The Waste Land |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: the infinite rendered palpable, and transported into the most
excessive raptures of which the creature is capable. All that he saw
in this girl more distinctly than he had yet seen it, for she let
herself be viewed complacently, happy to be admired. The admiration of
De Marsay became a secret fury, and he unveiled her completely,
throwing a glance at her which the Spaniard understood as though she
had been used to receive such.
"If you are not to be mine, mine only, I will kill you!" he cried.
Hearing this speech, Paquita covered her face in her hands, and cried
naively:
"Holy Virgin! What have I brought upon myself?"
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: his even teeth, and he kissed her hand.
"Alexey, you have not changed to me?" she said, pressing his hand
in both of hers. "Alexey, I am miserable here. When are we going
away?"
"Soon, soon. You wouldn't believe how disagreeable our way of
living here is to me too," he said, and he drew away his hand.
"Well, go, go!" she said in a tone of offense, and she walked
quickly away from him.
Chapter 32
When Vronsky returned home, Anna was not yet home. Soon after he
had left, some lady, so they told him, had come to see her, and
Anna Karenina |
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 De Profundis by Oscar Wilde: his doubt helps him not, as it comes not from scepticism but from a
divided will.
Of all this Guildenstern and Rosencrantz realise nothing. They bow
and smirk and smile, and what the one says the other echoes with
sickliest intonation. When, at last, by means of the play within
the play, and the puppets in their dalliance, Hamlet 'catches the
conscience' of the King, and drives the wretched man in terror from
his throne, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz see no more in his conduct
than a rather painful breach of Court etiquette. That is as far as
they can attain to in 'the contemplation of the spectacle of life
with appropriate emotions.' They are close to his very secret and
|
