| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: But pass, again to come; and then or now
Utterly smite the heathen underfoot,
Till these and all men hail him for their king.'
She spake and King Leodogran rejoiced,
But musing, `Shall I answer yea or nay?'
Doubted, and drowsed, nodded and slept, and saw,
Dreaming, a slope of land that ever grew,
Field after field, up to a height, the peak
Haze-hidden, and thereon a phantom king,
Now looming, and now lost; and on the slope
The sword rose, the hind fell, the herd was driven,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: Myles sat staring at the old knight in utter and profound
amazement, and presently Sir James continued: "Yea, almost ever
since thou hast come here my Lord hath kept oversight upon all
thy doings, upon all thy mad pranks and thy quarrels and thy
fights, thy goings out and comings in. What thinkest thou of
that, Myles Falworth?"
Again the old knight stopped and regarded the lad, who sat
silent, finding no words to answer. He seemed to find a grim
pleasure in the youngster's bewilderment and wonder. Then a
sudden thought came to Myles.
"Sir," said he, "did my Lord know that I went to the privy garden
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: Into this place, 'twere pittie of my life
Du. A verie gentle beast, and of good conscience
Dem. The verie best at a beast, my Lord, y ere I saw
Lis. This Lion is a verie Fox for his valor
Du. True, and a Goose for his discretion
Dem. Not so my Lord: for his valor cannot carrie
his discretion, and the fox carries the Goose
Du. His discretion I am sure cannot carrie his valor:
for the Goose carries not the Fox. It is well; leaue it to
his discretion, and let vs hearken to the Moone
Moone. This Lanthorne doth the horned Moone present
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
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 Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: there one of them with the straps to his back? And you would
teach us men our work? Look, I say!"
Another tremendous section of the glacier rumbled earthward. The
wind whipped in at the open doorway, bulging out the sides of the
tent till it swayed like a huge bladder at its guy ropes. The
smoke swirled about them, and the sleet drove sharply into their
flesh. Tommy pulled the flaps together hastily, and returned to
his tearful task at the fire-box. Dick Humphries threw the mended
pack straps into a corner and lighted his pipe. Even Molly was
for the moment persuaded.
"There's my clothes," she half-whimpered, the feminine for the
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