| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems by T. S. Eliot: Overturns a coffee-cup,
Reorganized upon the floor
She yawns and draws a stocking up;
The silent man in mocha brown
Sprawls at the window-sill and gapes;
The waiter brings in oranges
Bananas figs and hothouse grapes;
The silent vertebrate in brown
Contracts and concentrates, withdraws;
Rachel née Rabinovitch
Tears at the grapes with murderous paws;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: have received from my master gifts of prophecy which are not inferior to
theirs, would not go out of life less merrily than the swans. Never mind
then, if this be your only objection, but speak and ask anything which you
like, while the eleven magistrates of Athens allow.
Very good, Socrates, said Simmias; then I will tell you my difficulty, and
Cebes will tell you his. I feel myself, (and I daresay that you have the
same feeling), how hard or rather impossible is the attainment of any
certainty about questions such as these in the present life. And yet I
should deem him a coward who did not prove what is said about them to the
uttermost, or whose heart failed him before he had examined them on every
side. For he should persevere until he has achieved one of two things:
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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 Protagoras by Plato: go forth on the gale with every sail set out of sight of land into an ocean
of words, but let there be a mean observed by both of you. Do as I say.
And let me also persuade you to choose an arbiter or overseer or president;
he will keep watch over your words and will prescribe their proper length.
This proposal was received by the company with universal approval; Callias
said that he would not let me off, and they begged me to choose an arbiter.
But I said that to choose an umpire of discourse would be unseemly; for if
the person chosen was inferior, then the inferior or worse ought not to
preside over the better; or if he was equal, neither would that be well;
for he who is our equal will do as we do, and what will be the use of
choosing him? And if you say, 'Let us have a better then,'--to that 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 The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: be all good. There be no line of vice or deception
upon your face and you are very brave. So brave and
noble a man, Roger, has a heart of pure gold."
"Don't," he said, bitterly. "I cannot endure it. Wait
until I come again and then, oh my flower of all Eng-
land, if you have it in your heart to speak as you are
speaking now the sun of my happiness will be at
zenith. Then, but not before, shall I speak to the Earl,
thy father. Farewell, Bertrade, in a few days I return."
"If you would speak to the Earl on such a subject,
you insolent young puppy, you may save your breath,"
The Outlaw of Torn |
