| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw: age--
HYPATIA. _[impatiently]_ Oh, do talk about yourself when you mean
yourself, and not about men of your age.
LORD SUMMERHAYS. I'll put it as bluntly as I can. When, as you say,
I made an utter fool of myself, believe me, I made a poetic fool of
myself. I was seduced, not by appetites which, thank Heaven, Ive long
outlived: not even by the desire of second childhood for a child
companion, but by the innocent impulse to place the delicacy and
wisdom and spirituality of my age at the affectionate service of your
youth for a few years, at the end of which you would be a grown,
strong, formed--widow. Alas, my dear, the delicacy of age reckoned,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells: graceful destruction. They go there, they have their
time, they die childless, all the pretty silly lascivious
women die childless, and mankind is the better. If
the people were sane they would not envy the rich
their way of death. And you would emancipate the
silly brainless workers that we have enslaved, and try
to make their lives easy and pleasant again. Just
as they have sunk to what they are fit for. "He
smiled a smile that irritated Graham oddly. "You
will learn better. I know those ideas; in my boyhood
I read your Shelley and dreamt of Liberty. There is
When the Sleeper Wakes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: tears to his eyes that are dry with wickedness. Take him away, the
heartless brute! Oh, take him away!"
So this one also was killed, and these were but the first of
thousands, for presently Chaka grew mad with wickedness, with fury,
and with the lust of blood. He walked to and fro, weeping, going now
and again into his hut to drink beer, and I with him, for he said that
we who sorrowed must have food. And ever as he walked he would wave
his arm or his assegai, saying, "Take them away, the heartless brutes,
who do not weep because my mother is dead," and those who chanced to
stand before his arm were killed, till at length the slayers could
slay no more, and themselves were slain, because their strength had
Nada the Lily |
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 Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: accustomed to form a portion of one empire before they had won
their independence; they had not contracted the habit of
governing themselves, and their national prejudices had not taken
deep root in their minds. Superior to the rest of the world in
political knowledge, and sharing that knowledge equally amongst
themselves, they were little agitated by the passions which
generally oppose the extension of federal authority in a nation,
and those passions were checked by the wisdom of the chief
citizens. The Americans applied the remedy with prudent firmness
as soon as they were conscious of the evil; they amended their
laws, and they saved their country.
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