| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: brought himself to speak of it to any one; and he knew too that,
although he wanted to get married, and although by every token
this very attractive girl would make an excellent wife, he could
no more have married her, even if he had not been in love with
Kitty Shtcherbatskaya, than he could have flown up to the sky.
And this knowledge poisoned the pleasure he had hoped to find in
the visit to Sviazhsky.
On getting Sviazhsky's letter with the invitation for shooting,
Levin had immediately thought of this; but in spite of it he had
made up his mind that Sviazhsky's having such views for him was
simply his own groundless supposition, and so he would go, all
Anna Karenina |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) by Dante Alighieri: he had been a victim to the god; and Florence had not since known
the blessing of peace.
v. 150. The lily.] "The arms of Florence had never hung
reversed on the spear of her enemies, in token of her defeat; nor
been changed from argent to gules;" as they afterwards were, when
the Guelfi gained the predominance.
CANTO XVII
v. 1. The youth.] Phaeton, who came to his mother Clymene, to
inquire of her if he were indeed the son of Apollo. See Ovid,
Met. 1. i. ad finem.
v. 6. That saintly lamp.] Cacciaguida.
The Divine Comedy (translated by H.F. Cary) |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: pipe up with my opinions? I know the Author's on the side of good;
he tells me so, it runs out of his pen as he writes. Well, that's
all I need to know; I'll take my chance upon the rest."
"It's a fact he seemed to be against George Merry," Silver
admitted, musingly. "But George is little more'n a name at the
best of it," he added, brightening. "And to get into soundings for
once. What is this good? I made a mutiny, and I been a gentleman
o' fortune; well, but by all stories, you ain't no such saint. I'm
a man that keeps company very easy; even by your own account, you
ain't, and to my certain knowledge you're a devil to haze. Which
is which? Which is good, and which bad? Ah, you tell me that!
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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 Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: needles and sticks, of which the ants have piled their nest, are a
mass.
The term, I believe, was invented during the Ancien Regime. Whether
it was or not, it expresses very accurately the life of the many in
those days. No one would speak, if he wished to speak exactly, of
the masses of the United States; for there every man is, or is
presumed to be, a personage; with his own independence, his own
activities, his own rights and duties. No one, I believe, would
have talked of the masses in the old feudal times; for then each
individual was someone's man, bound to his master by ties of mutual
service, just or unjust, honourable or base, but still giving him a
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