| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Poems of William Blake by William Blake: Thou gentle maid of silent valleys and of modest brooks:
For thou shall be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna:
Till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs
To flourish in eternal vales: they why should Thel complain.
Why should the mistress of the vales of Har, utter a sigh.
She ceasd & smild in tears, then sat down in her silver shrine.
Thel answerd, O thou little virgin of the peaceful valley.
Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless, the o'er tired
The breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells the milky garments
He crops thy flowers while thou sittest smiling in his face,
Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious taints.
Poems of William Blake |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: solitude is gay with light and verdure; I attend, whenever I
please, the fields' high festival, the Thrushes' concert, the
Crickets' symphony; and yet my friendly commerce with the Spider is
marked by an even greater devotion than the young typesetter's. I
admit her to the intimacy of my study, I make room for her among my
books, I set her in the sun on my window-ledge, I visit her
assiduously at her home, in the country. The object of our
relations is not to create a means of escape from the petty worries
of life, pin-pricks whereof I have my share like other men, a very
large share, indeed; I propose to submit to the Spider a host of
questions whereto, at times, she condescends to reply.
The Life of the Spider |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The School For Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan: him----
CRABTREE. Yes yes--and I saw one of the Faculty enter just before
me----
SIR BENJAMIN. Hey--who comes here----
CRABTREE. Oh, this is He--the Physician depend on't.
MRS. CANDOUR. O certainly it must be the Physician and now we shall
know----
Enter SIR OLIVER
CRABTREE. Well, Doctor--what Hopes?
MRS. CANDOUR. Aye Doctor how's your Patient?
SIR BENJAMIN. Now Doctor isn't it a wound with a small sword----
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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 Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: soft shawls."
"Yes; but how will the other women be dressed?"
"Not as well as you, dear," he rejoined, wondering
what had suddenly developed in her Janey's morbid
interest in clothes.
She pushed back her chair with a sigh. "That's dear
of you, Newland; but it doesn't help me much."
He had an inspiration. "Why not wear your wedding-
dress? That can't be wrong, can it?"
"Oh, dearest! If I only had it here! But it's gone to
Paris to be made over for next winter, and Worth
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