| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: never able to give us what he might have given us. Shelley escaped
better. Like Byron, he got out of England as soon as possible.
But he was not so well known. If the English had had any idea of
what a great poet he really was, they would have fallen on him with
tooth and nail, and made his life as unbearable to him as they
possibly could. But he was not a remarkable figure in society, and
consequently he escaped, to a certain degree. Still, even in
Shelley the note of rebellion is sometimes too strong. The note of
the perfect personality is not rebellion, but peace.
It will be a marvellous thing - the true personality of man - when
we see it. It will grow naturally and simply, flowerlike, or as a
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: He was aware that this sort of thing had occurred before.
The dogs were handsomely provided for,
But shortly afterwards the parrot died too.
The Dresden clock continued ticking on the mantelpiece,
And the footman sat upon the dining-table
Holding the second housemaid on his knees--
Who had always been so careful while her mistress lived.
Cousin Nancy
Miss Nancy Ellicot
Strode across the hills and broke them
Rode across the hills and broke them--
Prufrock/Other Observations |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: Charleville's, the old lady of eighty-four, at whose house I
mentioned an evening visit in my last, and I must tell you all about
it to entertain dear Grandma. I will be minute for once, and give
you the LITTLE details of a London dinner, and they are all
precisely alike. We arrived at Cavendish Square a quarter before
seven (very early) and were shown into a semi-library on the same
floor with the dining-room. The servants take your cloak, etc., in
the passage, and I am never shown into a room with a mirror as with
us, and never into a chamber or bedroom.
We found Lady Charleville and her daughter with one young gentleman
with whom I chatted till dinner, and who, I found, was Sir William
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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 Cavalry General by Xenophon: look about for cavalry, but have a thoroughly efficient force to hand
for active service. Let these ideas be once instilled into their
minds, and, mark my words, your trooper will fall with zest to
practising horsemanship, so that if ever the flame of war burst out he
may not be forced to enter the lists a raw recruit, unskilled to fight
for fame and fatherland or even life itself.
[26] In the piping days of peace.
[27] See "Econ." xi. 17. Cf. Theophr. "Ch." viii. "The Late Learner":
{kai eis agron eph' ippou allotriou katakhoumenos ama meletan
ippazesthai, kai peson ten kephalon kateagenai}, "Riding into the
country on another's horse, he will practise his horsemanship by
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