| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Pool in the Desert by Sara Jeanette Duncan: upon her appearance and her manners--had many excellent qualities
and capacities which she never inherited from me; but she could see
no more than the bulk, no further than the perspective; she could
register exactly as much as a camera.
This was a curious thing, perhaps, to displease my maternal vanity,
but it did; I had really rather she squinted; and when there was
anything to look at I kept out of the way. I can not tell
precisely, therefore, what the incidents were that contributed to
make Mr. Tottenham, on our return from these expeditions, so
thoughtful, with a thoughtfulness which increased, towards the end
of them, to a positive gravity. This would disappear during dinner
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Droll Stories, V. 1 by Honore de Balzac: good joke.
"Well, gentlemen," said the king, re-entering the room, "let us fall
to; we have had a good day's sport."
And the surgeon, the cardinal, a fat bishop, the captain of the Scotch
Guard, a parliamentary envoy, and a judge loved of the king, followed
the two ladies into the room where one rubs the rust off one's jaw
bones. And there they lined the mold of their doublets. What is that?
It is to pave the stomach, to practice the chemistry of nature, to
register the various dishes, to regale your tripes, to dig your grave
with your teeth, play with the sword of Cain, to inter sauces, to
support a cuckold. But more philosophically it is to make ordure with
Droll Stories, V. 1 |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: Our son is with him; we shall hear anon,
Needs must hear.' To this the courteous Prince
Accorded with his wonted courtesy,
Courtesy with a touch of traitor in it,
And stayed; and cast his eyes on fair Elaine:
Where could be found face daintier? then her shape
From forehead down to foot, perfect--again
From foot to forehead exquisitely turned:
'Well--if I bide, lo! this wild flower for me!'
And oft they met among the garden yews,
And there he set himself to play upon her
|
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 Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: that because these fames are a sign of troubles, that
the suppressing of them with too much severity,
should be a remedy of troubles. For the despising
of them, many times checks them best; and the
going about to stop them, doth but make a wonder
long-lived. Also that kind of obedience, which
Tacitus speaketh of, is to be held suspected: Erant
in officio, sed tamen qui mallent mandata impe-
rantium interpretari quam exequi; disputing, ex-
cusing, cavilling upon mandates and directions, is
a kind of shaking off the yoke, and assay of dis-
Essays of Francis Bacon |
