| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: It may seem strange that so great a dramatist as Shakespeare, who
realised his own perfection as an artist and his humanity as a man
on the ideal plane of stage-writing and stage-playing, should have
written in these terms about the theatre; but we must remember that
in Sonnets CX. and CXI. Shakespeare shows us that he too was
wearied of the world of puppets, and full of shame at having made
himself 'a motley to the view.' The 111th Sonnet is especially
bitter:-
O, for my sake do you with Fortune chide,
The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,
That did not better for my life provide
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum: thanked for all their kindness to her and to Cap'n Bill.
But the Orks were gone, and thanks for good deeds do
not amount to much except to prove one's politeness.
"Well, friends," said the Scarecrow, "we mustn't stay
here in the meadows all night, so let us find a pleasant
place to sleep. Not that it matters to me, in the least,
for I never sleep; but I know that meat people like to
shut their eyes and lie still during the dark hours."
"I'm pretty tired," admitted Trot, yawning as she
followed the straw man along a tiny path, "so, if you
don't find a house handy, Cap'n Bill and I will sleep
The Scarecrow of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: wonderfully proficient in the use of both firearms; and his skill in
drawing the smaller weapon, in which his movement was quicker than the
eye, astonished Hare. "My lad," said August, "it doesn't follow because
I'm a Christian that I don't know how to handle a gun. Besides, I like
to shoot."
In these few days Hare learned what conquering the desert made of a man.
August Naab was close to threescore years; his chest was wide as a door,
his arm like the branch of an oak. He was a blacksmith, a mechanic, a
carpenter, a cooper, a potter. At his forge and in his shop, everywhere,
were crude tools, wagons, farming implements, sets of buckskin harness,
odds and ends of nameless things, eloquent and pregnant proof of the fact
The Heritage of the Desert |
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 Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: looking out over the rail, saying nothing, feeling
nothing, not even the weariness of my limbs, over-
come by the evil spell.
"Ransome," I asked abruptly, "how long have I
been on deck? I am losing the notion of time."
"Twelve days, sir," he said, "and it's just a
fortnight since we left the anchorage."
His equable voice sounded mournful somehow.
He waited a bit, then added: "It's the first time
that it looks as if we were to have some rain."
I noticed then the broad shadow on the horizon,
The Shadow Line |
