| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw: drama. It is the _deus ex machina_ who, by suspending that
resistance, makes the fall of the curtain an immediate necessity,
since drama ends exactly where resistance ends. Yet the
introduction of this resistance produces so strong an impression
of heartlessness nowadays that a distinguished critic has summed
up the impression made on him by Mrs Warren's Profession, by
declaring that "the difference between the spirit of Tolstoy and
the spirit of Mr Shaw is the difference between the spirit of
Christ and the spirit of Euclid." But the epigram would be as
good if Tolstoy's name were put in place of mine and D'Annunzio's
in place of Tolstoy. At the same time I accept the enormous
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: a museum. The tiled floor was thick with dust, and a remarkable
array of miscellaneous objects was shrouded in the same grey
covering. Then I perceived, standing strange and gaunt in the
centre of the hall, what was clearly the lower part of a huge
skeleton. I recognized by the oblique feet that it was some
extinct creature after the fashion of the Megatherium. The skull
and the upper bones lay beside it in the thick dust, and in one
place, where rain-water had dropped through a leak in the roof,
the thing itself had been worn away. Further in the gallery was
the huge skeleton barrel of a Brontosaurus. My museum hypothesis
was confirmed. Going towards the side I found what appeared to be
The Time Machine |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: were able so far to digress from their nephew's state, as to give
the information of Captain Wentworth's visit; staying five minutes behind
their father and mother, to endeavour to express how perfectly delighted
they were with him, how much handsomer, how infinitely more agreeable
they thought him than any individual among their male acquaintance,
who had been at all a favourite before. How glad they had been
to hear papa invite him to stay dinner, how sorry when he said
it was quite out of his power, and how glad again when he had promised
in reply to papa and mamma's farther pressing invitations to come
and dine with them on the morrow--actually on the morrow;
and he had promised it in so pleasant a manner, as if he felt
Persuasion |
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 Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: argument. We agree that humanity is the object, the glorious
triumph of humanity; and being pledged to labour for that
end, and face to face with the banded opposition of kings,
parliaments, churches, and the members of the force, who am I
- who are we, dear sir - to affect a nicety about the tools
employed? You might, perhaps, expect us to attack the Queen,
the sinister Gladstone, the rigid Derby, or the dexterous
Granville; but there you would be in error. Our appeal is to
the body of the people; it is these that we would touch and
interest. Now, sir, have you observed the English
housemaid?'
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