| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: always been big, but now he seemed wider and heavier. Among these bronzed
Westerners he appeared pale, but that was only on account of his fair skin.
"Ken, didn't you get my letter--the one telling you not to come West yet a
while?"
"No," I replied, blankly. "The last one I got was in May--about the middle.
I have it with me. You certainly asked me to come then. Dick, don't you
want me--now?"
Plain it was that my friend felt uncomfortable; he shifted from one foot to
another, and a cloud darkened his brow. But his blue eyes burned with a
warm light as he put his hand on my shoulder.
"Ken, I'm glad to see you," he said, earnestly. "It's like getting a
The Young Forester |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: Baedeker in English, published several years apart. The Baedeker in
German recommended a path that went straight up the ascent, the Baedeker
in English a path that went up more gradually around it. "Mine says this
is the best way," said the American. "Mine says straight up is the
best," said the German. "But mine is a later edition," said the American.
"That is not it," explained the German. "It is that we Germans are so
much more clever and agile, that to us is recommended the more dangerous
way while Americans are shown the safe path."
That happened in 1910. That is Kultur. This too is Kultur:
"If Silesia become Polish
Then, oh God, may children perish, like beasts, in their mothers' womb.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Helen of Troy And Other Poems by Sara Teasdale: Splashes of crimson, the gay bougainvillea, the palms.
High in the infinite blue of its heaven a quiet cloud lingers,
Lost and forgotten of winds that have fallen asleep,
Fallen asleep to the tune of a Portuguese song in a garden.
City Vignettes
I
Dawn
The greenish sky glows up in misty reds,
The purple shadows turn to brick and stone,
The dreams wear thin, men turn upon their beds,
And hear the milk-cart jangle by alone.
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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 Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: us: a new faith, free labor, free growth, free production, individual
progress, a social co-ordination in which each man shall receive the
full worth of his individual labor, in which no man shall be preyed
upon by other men who, without capacity of their own, compel ALL to
work for the profit of ONE. From this comes the doctrine of--"
"How about servants?" demanded the lunatic.
"They will remain servants if they have no capacity beyond it."
"Then what's the good of your doctrine?"
"To judge of this doctrine, Monsieur, you must consider it from a
higher point of view: you must take a general survey of humanity. Here
we come to the theories of Ballance: do you know his Palingenesis?"
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