| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: references to contemporary things and persons, with the single exception of
the allusions to the anonymous enemies of pleasure, and the teachers of the
flux, there are none.
The omission of the doctrine of recollection, derived from a previous state
of existence, is a note of progress in the philosophy of Plato. The
transcendental theory of pre-existent ideas, which is chiefly discussed by
him in the Meno, the Phaedo, and the Phaedrus, has given way to a
psychological one. The omission is rendered more significant by his having
occasion to speak of memory as the basis of desire. Of the ideas he treats
in the same sceptical spirit which appears in his criticism of them in the
Parmenides. He touches on the same difficulties and he gives no answer to
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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: for Rose, fevered with curiosity and superstition, and allured by
the very wildness and possible danger of the spell, had kept her
appointment; and, a few minutes before midnight, stood on the gray
shingle beach with her counsellor.
"You be safe enough here to-night, miss. My old man is snoring
sound abed, and there's no other soul ever sets foot here o'
nights, except it be the mermaids now and then. Goodness, Father,
where's our boat? It ought to be up here on the pebbles."
Rose pointed to a strip of sand some forty yards nearer the sea,
where the boat lay.
"Oh, the lazy old villain! he's been round the rocks after pollock
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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 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: The young man continued to advance, following the sailors,
who chose a firm footing. Thirty strides brought them to dry
land; the young man stamped on the ground to shake off the
wet, and looked around for some one to show him his road,
for it was quite dark. Just as he turned, a hand rested on
his shoulder, and a voice which made him shudder exclaimed,
-- "Good-evening, Maximilian; you are punctual, thank you!"
"Ah, is it you, count?" said the young man, in an almost
joyful accent, pressing Monte Cristo's hand with both his
own.
"Yes; you see I am as exact as you are. But you are
The Count of Monte Cristo |
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 When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells: thickly again."
His teeth chattered in his head.
"Where are the markets? " asked Graham staring
out. "Where are all the people? "
The other made no answer.
"Look!" whispered Graham, crouched close, and
became very still.
The snow had suddenly become thick again, and
sliding with the whirling eddies out of the black pit
of the sky came something, vague and large and very
swift. It came down in a steep curve and swept round,
When the Sleeper Wakes |
