| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) by Dante Alighieri: But since I see thee in thine intellect
Converted into stone and stained with sin,
So that the light of my discourse doth daze thee,
I will too, if not written, at least painted,
Thou bear it back within thee, for the reason
That cinct with palm the pilgrim's staff is borne."
And I: "As by a signet is the wax
Which does not change the figure stamped upon it,
My brain is now imprinted by yourself.
But wherefore so beyond my power of sight
Soars your desirable discourse, that aye
The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: God said, "Is there no dark blood in your heart; is it bitter against
none?"
And I said, "Yes--"; and I thought--"Now is the time when I will tell God,
that which I have been, meaning to tell him all along, how badly my fellow-
men have treated me. How they have misunderstood me. How I have intended
to be magnanimous and generous to them, and they--." And I began to tell
God; but when I looked down all the flowers were withering under my breath,
and I was silent.
And God called me to come up higher, and I gathered my mantle about me and
followed him.
And the rocks grew higher and steeper on every side; and we came at last to
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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 Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: spoke of, in order to open their campaign as early as the rest of the
allies; that they had forgot one of the most necessary articles of the
whole affair, it was neither a pioneer's spade, a pickax, or a shovel--
--It was a bed to lie on: so that as Shandy-Hall was at that time
unfurnished; and the little inn where poor Le Fever died, not yet built; my
uncle Toby was constrained to accept of a bed at Mrs. Wadman's, for a night
or two, till corporal Trim (who to the character of an excellent valet,
groom, cook, sempster, surgeon, and engineer, super-added that of an
excellent upholsterer too), with the help of a carpenter and a couple of
taylors, constructed one in my uncle Toby's house.
A daughter of Eve, for such was widow Wadman, and 'tis all the character I
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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 Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: Did England then set loose on us a pack of black savages and politicians
to help us rebuild? Why, this very day I cannot walk on the other side of
the river, I dare not venture off the New Bridge; and you who first beat
us and then unleashed the blacks to riot in a new 'equality' that they
were no more fit for than so many apes, you sat back at ease in your
victory and your progress, having handed the vote to the negro as you
might have handed a kerosene lamp to a child of three, and let us
crushed, breathless people cope with the chaos and destruction that never
came near you. Why, how can you dare--" Once again, admirably she pulled
herself up as she had done when she spoke of the President. "I mustn't!"
she declared, half whispering, and then more clearly and calmly, "I
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