| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare: Let the priest in surplice white,
That defunctive music can,
Be the death-defying swan,
Lest the requiem lack his right.
And thou, treble-dated crow,
That thy sable gender mak'st
With the breath thou giv'st and tak'st,
'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.
Here the anthem doth commence:
Love and constancy is dead;
Phoenix and the turtle fled
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: was a holy temple, dedicated to Cleito and Poseidon, and surrounded by an
enclosure of gold, and there was Poseidon's own temple, which was covered
with silver, and the pinnacles with gold. The roof was of ivory, adorned
with gold and silver and orichalcum, and the rest of the interior was lined
with orichalcum. Within was an image of the god standing in a chariot
drawn by six winged horses, and touching the roof with his head; around him
were a hundred Nereids, riding on dolphins. Outside the temple were placed
golden statues of all the descendants of the ten kings and of their wives;
there was an altar too, and there were palaces, corresponding to the
greatness and glory both of the kingdom and of the temple.
Also there were fountains of hot and cold water, and suitable buildings
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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 King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives,
Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers.
YORK.
O Clifford, but bethink thee once again,
And in thy thought o'errun my former time;
And, if thou canst for blushing, view this face,
And bite thy tongue, that slanders him with cowardice
Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this.
CLIFFORD.
I will not bandy with thee word for word,
But buckle with thee blows, twice two for one.
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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 Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: his eyebrows slightly at that.
"That alters the case a little, Mr. Prendick," he said,
with a trifle more respect in his manner. "As it happens,
we are biologists here. This is a biological station--of a sort."
His eye rested on the men in white who were busily hauling the puma,
on rollers, towards the walled yard. "I and Montgomery, at least,"
he added. Then, "When you will be able to get away, I can't say.
We're off the track to anywhere. We see a ship once in a twelve-month
or so."
He left me abruptly, and went up the beach past this group, and I
think entered the enclosure. The other two men were with Montgomery,
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
