| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: to William Bankes to speak to the maid. "It must have been fifteen--
no, twenty years ago--that I last saw her," she was saying, turning
back to him again as if she could not lose a moment of their talk, for
she was absorbed by what they were saying. So he had actually heard
from her this evening! And was Carrie still living at Marlow, and was
everything still the same? Oh, she could remember it as if it were
yesterday--on the river, feeling it as if it were yesterday--going on
the river, feeling very cold. But if the Mannings made a plan they
stuck to it. Never should she forget Herbert killing a wasp with a
teaspoon on the bank! And it was still going on, Mrs Ramsay mused,
gliding like a ghost among the chairs and tables of that drawing-room
To the Lighthouse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: piece of work from the kitchen sink to the big
open fireplace in the spacious hall and living-room.
"It's exquisite!" she exclaimed at last. "It seems
all hand-made--doesn't it?"
"It is, too. The owner literally built it with his
own hands--a work of love."
"For himself?" Mary asked with a smile.
"For the woman he loves, of course! My neighbor's
a sort of crank and insisted on expressing himself in
this way. Come, I want you to see two rooms upstairs."
He led her into the room Jim had built for his
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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 Elizabeth and her German Garden by Marie Annette Beauchamp: German Journeyings,--I haven't quite decided yet which."
"By the author of Prowls in Pomerania, you might add," suggested Irais.
"And Drivel from Dresden," said I. <143>
"And Bosh from Berlin," added Irais.
Minora stared. "I don't think those two last ones would do,"
she said, "because it is not to be a facetious book.
But your first one is rather a good title," she added,
looking at Irais and drawing out her note-book. "I think I'll
just jot that down."
"If you jot down all we say and then publish it, will it
still be your book?" asked Irais.
Elizabeth and her German Garden |
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 Republic by Plato: lusting, furious sort of animal.
And how does such an one live? 'Nay, that you must tell me.' Well then, I
fancy that he will live amid revelries and harlotries, and love will be the
lord and master of the house. Many desires require much money, and so he
spends all that he has and borrows more; and when he has nothing the young
ravens are still in the nest in which they were hatched, crying for food.
Love urges them on; and they must be gratified by force or fraud, or if
not, they become painful and troublesome; and as the new pleasures succeed
the old ones, so will the son take possession of the goods of his parents;
if they show signs of refusing, he will defraud and deceive them; and if
they openly resist, what then? 'I can only say, that I should not much
The Republic |
