| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: street within, and the open country without, with a belt of
beautiful garden and orchard round the walls, so that from any part
of the city perfectly fresh air and grass, and sight of far horizon,
might be reachable in a few minutes' walk. This the final aim; but
in immediate action every minor and possible good to be instantly
done, when, and as, we can; roofs mended that have holes in them--
fences patched that have gaps in them--walls' buttressed that
totter--and floors propped that shake; cleanliness and order
enforced with our own hands and eyes, till we are breathless, every
day. And all the fine arts will healthily follow. I myself have
washed a flight of stone stairs all down, with bucket and broom, in
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: the southern court of the ballium had become a flower-garden, with
quaint terraces, statues, knots of flowers, clipped yews and
hollies, and all the pedantries of the topiarian art. And toward
the east, where the vista of the valley opened, the old walls were
gone, and the frowning Norman keep, ruined in the Wars of the
Roses, had been replaced by the rich and stately architecture of
the Tudors. Altogether, the, house, like the time, was in a
transitionary state, and represented faithfully enough the passage
of the old middle age into the new life which had just burst into
blossom throughout Europe, never, let us pray, to see its autumn or
its winter.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Twelve Stories and a Dream by H. G. Wells: she shone clear amidst the muddle of his story like a glow-worm
in a tangle of weeds.
There must have been many days of things while all this was happening--
and once, I say, they danced under the moonlight in the fairy rings
that stud the meadows near Smeeth--but at last it all came to an end.
She led him into a great cavernous place, lit by a red nightlight
sort of thing, where there were coffers piled on coffers, and cups
and golden boxes, and a great heap of what certainly seemed to all
Mr. Skelmersdale's senses--coined gold. There were little gnomes
amidst this wealth, who saluted her at her coming, and stood aside.
And suddenly she turned on him there with brightly shining eyes.
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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 Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare: Full of rose-water and bestrew'd with flowers;
Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper,
And say 'Will't please your lordship cool your hands?'
Some one be ready with a costly suit,
And ask him what apparel he will wear;
Another tell him of his hounds and horse,
And that his lady mourns at his disease.
Persuade him that he hath been lunatic;
And, when he says he is--say that he dreams,
For he is nothing but a mighty lord.
This do, and do it kindly, gentle sirs;
The Taming of the Shrew |
