| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson: me how the day may now seem as short as in my childhood, while
nature was yet fresh, and every moment showed me what I never had
observed before. I have already enjoyed too much: give me
something to desire." The old man was surprised at this new
species of affliction, and knew not what to reply, yet was
unwilling to be silent. "Sir," said he, "if you had seen the
miseries of the world, you would know how to value your present
state." "Now," said the Prince, "you have given me something to
desire. I shall long to see the miseries of the world, since the
sight of them is necessary to happiness."
CHAPTER IV - THE PRINCE CONTINUES TO GRIEVE AND MUSE
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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 Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: air filled the tent, and the pink curtains of the couch trembled slightly,
as if stirred from within.
Glinda walked to the canopy and parted the silken hangings. Then she bent
over the cushions, reached out her hand, and from the couch arose the form
of a young girl, fresh and beautiful as a May morning. Her eyes sparkled as
two diamonds, and her lips were tinted like a tourmaline. All adown her back
floated tresses of ruddy gold, with a slender jeweled circlet confining them
at the brow. Her robes of silken gauze floated around her like a cloud, and
dainty satin slippers shod her feet.
At this exquisite vision Tip's old comrades stared in wonder for the space
of a full minute, and then every head bent low in honest admiration of the
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: burned out, and our counsels were wrapt again in darkness and
uncertainty, when there came a great uproar of steam-whistles from
the lake. They must be signalling for us. What could it mean?
We fired our guns, leaped into a canoe, leaving two of the guides
to break camp, and paddled out swiftly into the night. It seemed
an endless distance before we found the feeble light where the
crippled launch was tossing at anchor. The captain shouted
something about a larger steamboat and a raft of logs, out in the
lake, a mile or two beyond. Presently we saw the lights, and the
orange glow of the cabin windows. Was she coming, or going, or
standing still? We paddled on as fast as we could, shouting and
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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 Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: domestic economy. And whenever my wonder paid the expected
tribute he said, throwing out his chest a little: "Yes, I really
don't see how people manage to live without that."
Well--it was just the end one might have foreseen for him. Only
he was, through it all and in spite of it all--as he had been
through, and in spite of, his pictures--so handsome, so charming,
so disarming, that one longed to cry out: "Be dissatisfied with
your leisure!" as once one had longed to say: "Be dissatisfied
with your work!"
But, with the cry on my lips, my diagnosis suffered an unexpected
check.
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