| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: out from the hands that held me and went away without a word . . .
They let me go.
"I was weary. Did I sleep? I do not know. I remember walking upon a
broad path under a clear starlight; and that strange country seemed so
big, the rice-fields so vast, that, as I looked around, my head swam
with the fear of space. Then I saw a forest. The joyous starlight was
heavy upon me. I turned off the path and entered the forest, which was
very sombre and very sad."
V
Karain's tone had been getting lower and lower, as though he had been
going away from us, till the last words sounded faint but clear, as if
Tales of Unrest |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation
in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think,
cannot be perfectly cured; and it would be worse in both cases
AFTER the separation of the sections than BEFORE. The foreign
slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived,
without restriction, in one section, while fugitive slaves,
now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered
at all by the other.
Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our
respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall
between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy: "We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?--Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimpernel"
Sir Percy's BON MOT had gone the round of the brilliant
reception-rooms. The Prince was enchanted. He vowed that life
without Blakeney would be but a dreary desert. Then, taking him by
the arm, had led him to the card-room, and engaged him in a long game
of hazard.
Sir Percy, whose chief interest in most social gatherings
seemed to centre round the card-table, usually allowed his wife to
The Scarlet Pimpernel |
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 Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: be regarded as an epilogue or peroration to the whole work. It is
in accordance with a sound tradition that the grand sacred drama
of an oratorio should conclude with a lyric outburst of
thanksgiving, a psalm of praise to the Giver of every good and
perfect gift. Thus, after Peter's labours are ended in the aria,
"Now as ye were redeemed," in which the twelve disciples and the
full chorus join, a duet for tenor and soprano, "Sing unto God,"
brings us to the grand final chorus in C major, "Great and
marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty."
The cadence of this concluding chorus reminds us that one of the
noteworthy points in the oratorio is the character of its
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
