| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: you wish me to string you off a dozen mere banalites--'She 's a
charming girl--evidently a superior person--has a great deal of style.'
"
"Oh no," said Gordon; "I know all that. But, at any rate,"
he added, "you like her, eh?"
"I do more," said Longueville. "I admire her."
"Is that doing more?" asked Gordon, reflectively.
"Well, the greater, whichever it is, includes the less."
"You won't commit yourself," said Gordon. "My dear Bernard,"
he added, "I thought you knew such an immense deal about women!"
Gordon Wright was of so kindly and candid a nature that it
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: shoulder of Bacchus (in some picture), among the leopard skins and the
torches lolloping red and gold... Thus brought up suddenly into the
light it seemed possessed of great size and depth, was like a world in
which one could take one's staff and climb hills, she thought, and go
down into valleys, and to her pleasure (for it brought them into
sympathy momentarily) she saw that Augustus too feasted his eyes on the
same plate of fruit, plunged in, broke off a bloom there, a tassel
here, and returned, after feasting, to his hive. That was his way of
looking, different from hers. But looking together united them.
Now all the candles were lit up, and the faces on both sides of the
table were brought nearer by the candle light, and composed, as they
To the Lighthouse |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: manuscripts that are submitted to them come advices
(in the way of a boost) from the author asseverating
that the incidents in the story are true. The des-
tination of such contributions depends wholly upon
the question of the enclosure of stamps. Some are
returned, the rest are thrown on the floor in a corner
on top of a pair of gum shoes, an overturned statu-
ette of the Winged Victory, and a pile of old maga-
zines containing a picture of the editor in the act
of reading the latest copy of Le Petit Journal, right
side up - you can tell by the illustrations. It is
The Voice of the City |
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 Ion by Plato: horrors, my hair stands on end and my heart throbs.
SOCRATES: Well, Ion, and what are we to say of a man who at a sacrifice or
festival, when he is dressed in holiday attire, and has golden crowns upon
his head, of which nobody has robbed him, appears weeping or panic-stricken
in the presence of more than twenty thousand friendly faces, when there is
no one despoiling or wronging him;--is he in his right mind or is he not?
ION: No indeed, Socrates, I must say that, strictly speaking, he is not in
his right mind.
SOCRATES: And are you aware that you produce similar effects on most of
the spectators?
ION: Only too well; for I look down upon them from the stage, and behold
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