| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Herbert West: Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft: our fame would be brilliantly and perpetually established. So
without delay West had injected into the body’s wrist the compound
which would hold it fresh for use after my arrival. The matter
of the presumably weak heart, which to my mind imperilled the
success of our experiment, did not appear to trouble West extensively.
He hoped at last to obtain what he had never obtained before --
a rekindled spark of reason and perhaps a normal, living creature.
So on the night of July 18, 1910, Herbert West and I stood in
the cellar laboratory and gazed at a white, silent figure beneath
the dazzling arc-light. The embalming compound had worked uncannily
well, for as I stared fascinatedly at the sturdy frame which had
Herbert West: Reanimator |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift: may be supported by her milk, for a solar year, with little other
nourishment: at most not above the value of two shillings, which
the mother may certainly get, or the value in scraps, by her
lawful occupation of begging; and it is exactly at one year old
that I propose to provide for them in such a manner, as, instead
of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, or wanting
food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on the
contrary, contribute to the feeding, and partly to the cloathing
of many thousands.
There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it
will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice
A Modest Proposal |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare: All melting; though our drops this difference bore:
His poison'd me, and mine did him restore.
'In him a plenitude of subtle matter,
Applied to cautels, all strange forms receives,
Of burning blushes or of weeping water,
Or swooning paleness; and he takes and leaves,
In either's aptness, as it best deceives,
To blush at speeches rank, to weep at woes,
Or to turn white and swoon at tragic shows;
'That not a heart which in his level came
Could scape the hail of his all-hurting aim,
|
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 Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: hurried out of the room.
PART THREE
CHAPTER I
It was on our return from that first trip that I took Dominic up to
the Villa to be presented to Dona Rita. If she wanted to look on
the embodiment of fidelity, resource, and courage, she could behold
it all in that man. Apparently she was not disappointed. Neither
was Dominic disappointed. During the half-hour's interview they
got into touch with each other in a wonderful way as if they had
some common and secret standpoint in life. Maybe it was their
common lawlessness, and their knowledge of things as old as the
The Arrow of Gold |
