| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: countenances when I am speaking: and I am obliged to give my very best
attention to them; for if I make them cry I myself shall laugh, and if I
make them laugh I myself shall cry when the time of payment arrives.
SOCRATES: Do you know that the spectator is the last of the rings which,
as I am saying, receive the power of the original magnet from one another?
The rhapsode like yourself and the actor are intermediate links, and the
poet himself is the first of them. Through all these the God sways the
souls of men in any direction which he pleases, and makes one man hang down
from another. Thus there is a vast chain of dancers and masters and under-
masters of choruses, who are suspended, as if from the stone, at the side
of the rings which hang down from the Muse. And every poet has some Muse
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: age, and makes an excellent courtier. I could not help pitying her,
however, for looking forward to going through, year after year, the
same round of ceremonies, forms, and society. For us, it is a new
study, and invaluable for a short time; but I could not bear it for
life, as these European diplomatists. Besides, we Americans really
enjoy a kind of society, and a much nearer intercourse than other
foreigners, in the literary, scientific, and even social circles.
On Saturday evening Lord William Fitzroy and daughter joined our
party with Sir William Hooker and Lady Hooker. . . . Sir William
Hooker is one of the most interesting persons I have seen in
England. He is a great naturalist and has the charge of the great
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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 What is Man? by Mark Twain: greatest admiration of his genius.
Even Sir Thomas Bodley, after perusing the COGITATA ET VISA,
one of the most precious of those scattered leaves out of which
the great oracular volume was afterward made up, acknowledged
that "in all proposals and plots in that book, Bacon showed
himself a master workman"; and that "it could not be gainsaid but
all the treatise over did abound with choice conceits of the
present state of learning, and with worthy contemplations of the
means to procure it."
In 1612 a new edition of the ESSAYS appeared, with additions
surpassing the original collection both in bulk and quality.
What is Man? |
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 Common Sense by Thomas Paine: AND INSTRUMENTS OF HIS CHARIOTS; AND HE WILL TAKE YOUR DAUGHTERS
TO BE CONFECTIONARIES, AND TO BE COOKS AND TO BE BAKERS
(this describes the expense and luxury as well as the oppression
of kings) AND HE WILL TAKE YOUR FIELDS AND YOUR OLIVE YARDS,
EVEN THE BEST OF THEM, AND GIVE THEM TO HIS SERVANTS;
AND HE WILL TAKE THE TENTH OF YOUR SEED, AND OF YOUR VINEYARDS,
AND GIVE THEM TO HIS OFFICERS AND TO HIS SERVANTS
(by which we see that bribery, corruption, and favouritism
are the standing vices of kings) AND HE WILL TAKE THE TENTH
OF YOUR MEN SERVANTS, AND YOUR MAID SERVANTS, AND YOUR
GOODLIEST YOUNG MEN AND YOUR ASSES, AND PUT THEM TO HIS WORK;
Common Sense |
