| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Macbeth by William Shakespeare: But the Norweyan Lord, surueying vantage,
With furbusht Armes, and new supplyes of men,
Began a fresh assault
King. Dismay'd not this our Captaines, Macbeth and
Banquoh?
Cap. Yes, as Sparrowes, Eagles;
Or the Hare, the Lyon:
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As Cannons ouer-charg'd with double Cracks,
So they doubly redoubled stroakes vpon the Foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking Wounds,
Macbeth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: by Dr. Behn,[3] as blushing and turning to one side, when undressed
for medical examination.
Women blush much more than men. It is rare to see an old man, but not
nearly so rare to see an old woman blushing. The blind do not escape.
Laura Bridgman, born in this condition, as well as completely deaf,
blushes.[4] The Rev. R. H. Blair, Principal of the Worcester College,
informs me that three children born blind, out of seven or eight then
in the Asylum, are great blushers. The blind are not at first conscious
that they are observed, and it is a most important part of their education,
as Mr. Blair informs me, to impress this knowledge on their minds;
and the impression thus gained would greatly strengthen the tendency
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Egmont by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: Egmont. Sometimes, dearest, sometimes. When the soldier stands in
ambush and would delude the foe, he collects his thoughts, gathers his
mantle around him, and matures his plan and a lover--
Mother. Will you not take a seat, and make yourself comfortable? I must
to the kitchen, Clara thinks of nothing when you are here. You must put up
with what we have.
Egmont. Your good-will is the best seasoning.
[Exit Mother.
Clara. And what then is my love?
Egmont. Just what thou wilt.
Clara. Liken it to anything, if you have the heart.
Egmont |
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 Enoch Arden, &c. by Alfred Tennyson: And dewy Northern meadows green.
We came to warmer waves, and deep
Across the boundless east we drove,
Where those long swells of breaker sweep
The nutmeg rocks and isles clove.
VI.
By peaks that flamed, or, all in shade,
Gloom'd the low coast and quivering brine
With ashy rains, that spreading made
Fantastic plume or sable pine;
By sands and steaming flats, and floods
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