| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Children of the Night by Edwin Arlington Robinson: To fill the frittered minutes of a day,
Good glasses are to read the spirit through.
And whoso reads may get him some shrewd skill;
And some unprofitable scorn resign,
To praise the very thing that he deplores;
So, friends (dear friends), remember, if you will,
The shame I win for singing is all mine,
The gold I miss for dreaming is all yours.
The Story of the Ashes and the Flame
No matter why, nor whence, nor when she came,
There was her place. No matter what men said,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: his sword. The tragedian shouted, hissed, quivered, and squeezed
Masha in his iron embrace. And Masha, instead of repulsing him
and crying "Hence! " trembled in his arms like a bird and did not
move, . . .she seemed petrified.
"Have pity on me!" she whispered in his ear. "Oh, have pity on
me! I am so miserable!"
"You don't know your part! Listen to the prompter!" hissed the
tragedian, and he thrust his sword into her hand.
After the performance, Limonadov and Fenogenov were sitting in
the ticket box-office engaged in conversation.
"Your wife does not learn her part, you are right there," the
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: others," his companion pursued.
The Master took this considerably in, but made little of it.
"You're a gentleman and a man of genius. I think you might do
something."
"But if I must give that up - the genius?"
"Lots of people, you know, think I've kept mine," St. George
wonderfully grinned.
"You've a genius for mystification!" Paul declared; but grasping
his hand gratefully in attenuation of this judgement.
"Poor dear boy, I do worry you! But try, try, all the same. I
think your chances are good and you'll win a great prize."
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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 My Antonia by Willa Cather: anybody I loved.'
While we were talking, Antonia assured me that she
could keep me for the night. `We've plenty of room.
Two of the boys sleep in the haymow till cold weather comes,
but there's no need for it. Leo always begs to sleep there,
and Ambrosch goes along to look after him.'
I told her I would like to sleep in the haymow, with the boys.
`You can do just as you want to. The chest is full of clean blankets,
put away for winter. Now I must go, or my girls will be doing all the work,
and I want to cook your supper myself.'
As we went toward the house, we met Ambrosch and Anton,
My Antonia |
