| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Army eight Generals, six Colonels, seven Majors and five Captains,
besides one private for them to command. I'd like to promote the
private, for I believe no private should ever be in public life; and
I've also noticed that officers usually fight better and are more
reliable than common soldiers. Besides, the officers are more
important looking, and lend dignity to our army."
"No doubt you are right," said Dorothy, seating herself beside Ozma.
"And now," announced the girlish Ruler of Oz, "we will hold a solemn
conference to decide the best manner of liberating the royal family of
this fair Land of Ev from their long imprisonment."
9. The Royal Family of Ev
Ozma of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: wood made a good blaze in the grate, the kettle was boiled, and cups
were procured and washed. Ten minutes later the friends were dining
in the library.
Nightspore ate and drank little, but Maskull sat down with good
appetite. There being no milk, whisky took the place of it; the
nearly black tea was mixed with an equal quantity of the spirit. Of
this concoction Maskull drank cup after cup, and long after the
tongue had disappeared he was still imbibing.
Nightspore looked at him queerly. "Do you intend to finish the
bottle before Krag comes?"
"Krag won't want any, and one must do something. I feel restless."
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Of The Nature of Things by Lucretius: And fallen the frame with its enfeebled powers,
Thought hobbles, tongue wanders, and the mind gives way;
All fails, all's lacking at the selfsame time.
Therefore it suits that even the soul's dissolved,
Like smoke, into the lofty winds of air;
Since we behold the same to being come
Along with body and grow, and, as I've taught,
Crumble and crack, therewith outworn by eld.
Then, too, we see, that, just as body takes
Monstrous diseases and the dreadful pain,
So mind its bitter cares, the grief, the fear;
Of The Nature of Things |
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 Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: a sinister effect. For the rest any kind word about "The Return" (and
there have been such words said at different times) awakens in me the
liveliest gratitude, for I know how much the writing of that fantasy
has cost me in sheer toil, in temper, and in disillusion.
J. C.
TALES OF UNREST
KARAIN A MEMORY
I
We knew him in those unprotected days when we were content to hold in
our hands our lives and our property. None of us, I believe, has any
property now, and I hear that many, negligently, have lost their
Tales of Unrest |
