| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: anticipation of the Philebus and Republic as well as of moral philosophy in
later ages.
The dramatic interest of the Dialogue chiefly centres in the youth
Charmides, with whom Socrates talks in the kindly spirit of an elder. His
childlike simplicity and ingenuousness are contrasted with the dialectical
and rhetorical arts of Critias, who is the grown-up man of the world,
having a tincture of philosophy. No hint is given, either here or in the
Timaeus, of the infamy which attaches to the name of the latter in Athenian
history. He is simply a cultivated person who, like his kinsman Plato, is
ennobled by the connection of his family with Solon (Tim.), and had been
the follower, if not the disciple, both of Socrates and of the Sophists.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: about the houses, and men and women began their accustomed round of
tasks. Janci found that he had gathered enough willow twigs by
this time. He tied them in a loose bundle and started on his
homeward way.
His path led through wide-stretching fields and vineyards past a
little hill, some distance from the village, on which stood a large
house. It was not a pleasant house to look at, not a house one
would care to live in, even if one did not know its use, for it
looked bare and repellant, covered with its ugly yellow paint, and
with all the windows secured with heavy iron bars. The trees that
surrounded it were tall and thick-foliaged, casting an added gloom
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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 The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: other animals. Numerous species inhabit both salt and fresh
water; but those to which I allude were found, even in the
drier parts of the forest, beneath logs of rotten wood, on
which I believe they feed. In general form they resemble
little slugs, but are very much narrower in proportion, and
several of the species are beautifully coloured with
longitudinal stripes. Their structure is very simple: near the
middle of the under or crawling surface there are two small
transverse slits, from the anterior one of which a funnel-
shaped and highly irritable mouth can be protruded. For
some time after the rest of the animal was completely dead
The Voyage of the Beagle |
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 When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: calling up his club. The Mercer girls were hysterically giggling,
and Aunt Selina sat on a stiff-backed chair and took aromatic
spirits of ammonia. As for Jim, he had collapsed on the lowest
step of the stairs, and sat there with his head in his hands.
When he did look up, he didn't dare to look at me.
The Harbison man was arguing with the impassive individual on the
top step outside, and I saw him get out his pocketbook and offer
a crisp bundle of bills. But the man from the board of health
only smiled and tacked at his offensive sign. After a while Mr.
Harbison came in and closed the door, and we stared at one
another.
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