| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Weir of Hermiston by Robert Louis Stevenson: He knew who she must be - Kirstie, she of the harsh diminutive, his
housekeeper's niece, the sister of the rustic prophet, Gib - and he
found in her the answer to his wishes.
Christina felt the shock of their encountering glances, and seemed to
rise, clothed in smiles, into a region of the vague and bright. But the
gratification was not more exquisite than it was brief. She looked away
abruptly, and immediately began to blame herself for that abruptness.
She knew what she should have done, too late - turned slowly with her
nose in the air. And meantime his look was not removed, but continued
to play upon her like a battery of cannon constantly aimed, and now
seemed to isolate her alone with him, and now seemed to uplift her, as
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: to that of Ancient Greece.
Far be it from me to lumber these pages with an account of
what we so imperfectly strove to teach them. The memorable fact
is what they taught us, or some faint glimpse of it. And at
present, our major interest was not at all in the subject matter of
our talk, but in the audience.
Girls--hundreds of them--eager, bright-eyed, attentive
young faces; crowding questions, and, I regret to say, an
increasing inability on our part to answer them effectively.
Our special guides, who were on the platform with us, and
sometimes aided in clarifying a question or, oftener, an answer,
Herland |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Above him in the clouds doth rest
An oak-wreath, verdant and sublime,
Placed on his brow in after-time;
While they are banish'd to the slough,
Who their great master disavow.
1776.
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SONNETS.
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Lovingly I'll sing of love;
Ever comes she from above.
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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: went on, nevertheless, only now from without instead of from within.
So it must always be, in such a case. If a ruling class will not
try to raise the masses to their own level, the masses will try to
drag them down to theirs. That sense of justice which allowed
privileges, when they were as strictly official privileges as the
salary of a judge, or the immunity of a member of the House of
Commons; when they were earned, as in the Middle Age, by severe
education, earnest labour, and life and death responsibility in
peace and war, will demand the abolition of those privileges, when
no work is done in return for them, with a voice which must be
heard, for it is the voice of truth and justice.
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