| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: "goatee" beard. Profiting by the different movements in the crowd,
he had managed by degrees to gain the front row of spectators.
There, with arms crossed and stern gaze, he watched the hero of
the meeting. After having put his question he remained silent,
and appeared to take no notice of the thousands of looks directed
toward himself, nor of the murmur of disapprobation excited by
his words. Meeting at first with no reply, he repeated his
question with marked emphasis, adding, "We are here to talk about
the _moon_ and not about the _earth_."
"You are right, sir," replied Michel Ardan; "the discussion has
become irregular. We will return to the moon."
From the Earth to the Moon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as
yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still
beyond the invader's farthest advance."
As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words,
were flashed into the doomed man's brain rather than evolved
from it the captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant
stepped aside.
II
Peyton Fahrquhar was a well to do planter, of an old and
highly respected Alabama family. Being a slave owner and
like other slave owners a politician, he was naturally an
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: When they reached the top landing, Dorian set the lamp down
on the floor, and taking out the key, turned it in the lock.
"You insist on knowing, Basil?" he asked in a low voice.
"Yes."
"I am delighted," he answered, smiling. Then he added,
somewhat harshly, "You are the one man in the world who is
entitled to know everything about me. You have had more
to do with my life than you think"; and, taking up the lamp,
he opened the door and went in. A cold current of air passed them,
and the light shot up for a moment in a flame of murky orange.
He shuddered. "Shut the door behind you," he whispered,
The Picture of Dorian Gray |
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 Symposium by Xenophon: "Plato," ii. 228 foll. as to the sportive character of the work.
[4] Or, "let me describe a scene which I was witnes of." See Hug.
"Plat. Symp." p. xv. foll.
The occasion was a horse-race[5] at the great Panathenaic festival.[6]
Callias,[7] the son of Hipponicus, being a friend and lover of the boy
Autolycus,[8] had brought the lad, himself the winner of the
pankration,[9] to see the spectacle.
[5] See "Hipparch," ii. 1.
[6] "Held towards the end of July (Hecatombaeon) every year, and with
greater pomp every four years (the third of each Olympiad)."--Gow,
84, 129, n.
The Symposium |
